Hybrid Testing Based on Multi-Task Restart Loading Technology

The hybrid testing based on restart loading technology (HT-RLT) was developed in recent years, which enables the refined model calculation of the numerical substructure possible for the real-time hybrid testing (RTHT). However, for multiple experimental substructures in the RTHT, the HT-RLT still encounters high requirement of multiple loading equipment and the technical challenges of synchronization among loading equipment. For solving this problem, a hybrid testing based on multi-task overall restart loading technology (HT-MORLT) is proposed in this paper. This method achieves the loading of multiple experimental substructures one by one by means of multiple rounds of overall restart technology on a single agent specimen. Furthermore, for solving the experimental duration problem, a hybrid testing based on multi-task partial restart loading technology (HT-MPRLT) is proposed. This method achieves the loading of multiple experimental substructures one by one by means of multiple rounds of partial restart technology on a single agent specimen. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed HT-MORLT and HT-MPRLT are verified through numerical simulations and experiments on one three-story steel frame structure equipped with three viscous dampers. The numerical and experimental results show that both the HT-MORLT and the HT-MPRLT can achieve high-precision loading and reset-waiting operations for multiple experimental substructures. The correlation coefficients under all working conditions are above 96%, indicating that the two methods have high experimental accuracy. Moreover, the results also show that the HT-MPRLT can effectively improve the experimental efficiency by 50% compared to the HT-MORLT.