Hybrid simulation of steel frame structures with sectional model updating

Hybrid simulations that combine numerical computations and physical experiment represent an effective method of evaluating the dynamic response of structures. However, it is sometimes impossible to take all the uncertain or nonlinear parts of the structure as the physical substructure. Thus, the modeling errors of the numerical part can raise concerns. One method of solving this problem is to update the numerical model by estimating its parameters from experimental data online. In this paper, an online model updating method for the hybrid simulation of frame structures is proposed to reduce the errors of nonlinear modeling of numerical substructures. To obtain acceptable accuracy with acceptable extra computation efforts as a result of model parameter estimation, the sectional constitutive model is adopted, therein considering axial‐force and bending‐moment coupling; moreover, the unscented Kalman filter is used for parameter estimation of the sectional model. The effectiveness of the sectional model updating with the unscented Kalman filter is validated via numerical analyses and actual hybrid tests on a full‐scale steel frame structure, with one column as the experimental substructure loaded by three actuators to guarantee the consistency of the boundary conditions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.