Controlling buildings: a new frontier in feedback

TLDR

Civil structures such as buildings, offshore rigs, towers, roads, bridges, and pipelines must be protected against events like earthquakes, winds, waves, traffic, lightning, and deliberate acts, and control methods are increasingly seen as a vital contribution to this global priority. This article reviews the rapid developments in controlled civil structures, aiming to assess their progress and potential impact. The review covers full‑scale implementations, actuator types and characteristics, and the trend toward incorporating modern algorithms and technologies.

Abstract

The protection of civil structures, including their material contents and human occupants, is without doubt a worldwide priority of the most serious importance. Such protection may range from reliable operation and comfort, on the one hand, to survivability on the other. Examples of such structures leap to one's mind, and include buildings, offshore rigs, towers, roads, bridges, and pipelines. In like manner, events that cause the need for such protective measures are earthquakes, winds, waves, traffic, lightning, and-today, regrettably-deliberate acts. Indications are that control methods will be able to make a genuine contribution to this problem area, which is of great economic and social importance. In this article, we review the rapid developments which have been occurring in the area of controlled civil structures, including full-scale implementations, actuator types and characteristics, and trends toward the incorporation of more modern algorithms and technologies.