Author(s)

A. A. Sorkhabi & O. Mercan

Abstract

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) is a practical and economical experimental technique that integrates physical testing with computer simulation. In this method by dividing the structure into two parts, known as the experimental and analytical substructures, and synchronizing them, the equations of motion are solved in real-time. Thus, RTHS can capture the load-rate dependencies in an accurate manner. The implementation of RTHS involves challenges in accurate control of experimental substructure, execution of the testing algorithms in realtime as well as the synchronization of signals. One of these challenges is the measurement errors in restoring force feedback resulting from the random electrical noise that is usually inevitable in these testing platforms. Since the measured restoring force is used in command generation, RTHS suffers from error propagation affecting the accuracy and in some cases the stability of the simulation results. In this paper, using a recently developed user-reconfigurable computational/control platform at the University of Toronto, the effects of force feedback errors on the RTHS results will be investigated considering a wide range of experimental to analytical stiffness ratios. The accuracy of the RTHS results will be assessed using tracking indicators that reveal the phase and amplitude errors between the RTHS results and exact numerical solutions. Keywords: real-time hybrid simulation, electrical noise, phase error, amplitude error, user reconfigurable computational/control platform.

Keywords

real-time hybrid simulation, electrical noise, phase error, amplitude error, user reconfigurable computational/control platform