Hybrid simulation method with restoring force correction for structural testing characterized by incomplete boundary conditions

Hybrid simulation is a powerful testing method that combines numerical analysis and physical experiments through on‐line interaction. The substructuring technology enables hybrid simulation to evaluate the structural performance with large‐scale specimens. However, this technology also increases the complexity of specimen boundary conditions. Due to limited equipment resources of structural laboratories, not all the degrees of freedom of the boundary conditions can be realized during tests, which will induce error to the experimental restoring forces and decrease of accuracy of hybrid simulation. In this case, the hybrid simulation method based on restoring force correction was proposed to reduce this error. In this method, the error in experimental restoring forces were corrected using an auxiliary numerical model of the experimental substructure. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified through both theoretical analysis and numerical examples. This method was then adopted to evaluate the seismic performance of a spatial reinforced concrete frame with buckling‐restrained braces numerically. Results showed that the proposed method can enhance the accuracy of tests compared to conventional hybrid simulation, and keep computational efficiency in the meanwhile.