Structural time-dependent reliability assessment of the vibration active control system with unknown-but-bounded uncertainties

The active control system for structural vibration is extremely sensitive to the parametric uncertainty so that more and more concerns of its reliability estimation have been given recently. In view of the insufficiency of the uncertainty information in practical engineering, a non-probabilistic time-dependent reliability method that combines the active vibration control theory with interval analysis is proposed in this paper to effectively estimate the dynamic safety of the controlled structures, in which circumstances the unknown-but-bounded uncertainties in structural parameters are considered. The uncertain structural responses based on the closed-loop control are firstly analyzed and embodied by the interval process model. By virtue of the first-passage theory, an integral procedure of non-probabilistic time-dependent reliability analysis of the active control system for structural vibration is then conducted. Two engineering examples and one experimental application are eventually presented to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the methodology developed.