Improved Operator-Splitting Method for Dynamic Real-Time Substructure Testing of Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Structure

The operator-splitting (OS) method for real-time substructure testing (RTST) provides explicit and unconditionally stable solutions for structures with softening type stiffness and damping has been widely used for precisely disclosing the seismic performance of structures with velocity-dependent specimens. However, the OS method for RTST provides only explicit target displacement and velocity but not an explicit target acceleration, so that it is essentially an implicit method for Dynamic real-time substructure testing (DRTST) with dynamic system specimens. For precisely disclosing the seismic performance of multiple-degree-of-freedom structures with dynamic system specimens, one improved OS method is proposed for DRTST in this paper. The methodology and stability of the proposed OS method are investigated, and the effectiveness of the proposed OS method is validated by numerical simulations and experimental tests. By using the predictor displacement, velocity, and acceleration approximations, the OS method is an explicit algorithm for DRTST. The stability analysis shows that the proposed OS method is conditionally stable for DRTST, and its stability limit decreases with the increase of the mass ratio and the stiffness ratio, while it increases first and then decreases with the increase of the damping ratio. The numerical and experimental results confirm the stability and accuracy of the OS method. The OS method for DRTST provides a practical and precise investigation strategy for structures with dynamic system specimens and may have broad application prospects in civil engineering.