Development of adaptive modeling techniques for non-linear hysteretic systems

Adaptive estimation procedures have gained significant attention by the research community to perform real-time identification of non-linear hysteretic structural systems under arbitrary dynamic excitations. Such techniques promise to provide real-time, robust tracking of system response as well as the ability to track time variation within the system being modeled. An overview of some of the authors’ previous work in this area is presented, along with a discussion of some of the emerging issues being tackled with regard to this class of problems. The trade-offs between parametric-based modeling and non-parametric modeling of non-linear hysteretic dynamic system behavior are discussed. Particular attention is given to (1) the effects of over- and under-parameterization on parameter convergence and system output tracking performance, (2) identifiability in multi-degree-of-freedom structural systems, (3) trade-offs in setting user-defined parameters for adaptive laws, and (4) the effects of noise on measurement integration. Both simulation and experimental results indicating the performance of the parametric and non-parametric methods are presented and their implications are discussed in the context of adaptive structures and structural health monitoring.