Grouted splice sleeve (GSS) connectors are mainly used in precast concrete structures. However, errors in manual operation during construction cause grouted defects in the GSS connector, which can lead to a negative effect on the overall mechanical properties of the structures. Owing to the complex structure of precast concrete members with a GSS connector, it is difficult to detect grouted defects effectively using traditional ultrasonic parameters. In this paper, a wavelet packet analysis algorithm was developed to effectively detect grouted defects using the ultrasonic method, and a verified experiment was carried out. Laboratory detection was performed on the concrete specimens with a GSS connector before grouting, in which the grouted defects were mimicked with five sizes in five GSS connectors of each specimen group. A simple and convenient ultrasonic detection system was developed, and the specimens were detected. According to the proposed grouted defect index, the results demonstrated that when the grouted defects reached certain sizes, the proposed method could detect the grouted defects effectively. The proposed method is effective and easy to implement at a construction site with simple instruments, and so provides an innovative method for grouted defects detection of precast concrete members.

Time-delays of control force calculation, data acquisition, and actuator response will degrade the performance of Active Mass Damper (AMD) control systems. To reduce the influence, model reduction method is used to deal with the original controlled structure. However, during the procedure, the related hierarchy information of small eigenvalues will be directly discorded. As a result, the reduced-order model ignores the information of high-order mode, which will reduce the design accuracy of an AMD control system. In this paper, a new reduced-order controller based on the improved Balanced Truncation (BT) method is designed to reduce the calculation time and to retain the abandoned high-order modal information. It includes high-order natural frequency, damping ratio, and vibration modal information of the original structure. Then, a control gain design method based on Guaranteed Cost Control (GCC) algorithm is presented to eliminate the adverse effects of data acquisition and actuator response time-delays in the design process of the reduced-order controller. To verify its effectiveness, the proposed methodology is applied to a numerical example of a ten-storey frame and an experiment of a single-span four-storey steel frame. Both numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the reduced-order controller with GCC algorithm has an excellent control effect; meanwhile it can compensate time-delays effectively.

Active mass damper (AMD) control system is proposed for high-rise buildings to resist a strong wind. However, negative influence of noise in sensors impedes the application of AMD systems in practice. To reduce the adverse influence of noise on AMD systems, a Kalman filter and a linear matrix inequality- (LMI-) based filter are designed. Firstly, a ten-year return period fluctuating wind load is simulated by mixed autoregressive-moving average (MARMA) method, and its reliability is tested by wind speed power spectrum and correlation analysis. Secondly, a designed state observer with different filters uses wind-induced acceleration responses of a high-rise building as the feedback signal that includes noise to calculate control force in this paper. Finally, these methods are applied to a numerical example of a high-rise building and an experiment of a single span four-storey steel frame. Both numerical and experimental results are presented to verify that both Kalman filter and LMI-based filter can effectively suppress noise, but only the latter can guarantee the stability of AMD parameters.

High‐rise buildings with an active mass damper/driver (AMD) system generally use a simplified mathematical model. The result leads to parametric uncertainties including the stiffness and mass variations exist, and the accuracy of its controller is seriously affected. In view of the above uncertainties, based on a Lyapunov stability theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, a state feedback controller based on the guaranteed cost control (GCC) algorithm is proposed in this paper. A ten‐storey frame with an AMD system is taken as a numerical example, and its control effect and AMD parameters are viewed as the control indexes. The performance of the proposed robust controller is compared with a conventional controller based on the classical LQR algorithm. The analysis results show that the new controller effectively suppresses the dynamic responses of high‐rise buildings with parametric uncertainties and keeps the AMD parameters stable. Finally, a four‐storey steel experimental frame with an AMD system is used to verify the correctness of the conclusions.