A review of active structural control: challenges for engineering informatics

An active structure is an engineering structure containing sensors and actuators that, when active, modify the response of the structure to its environment. Research into active structural control is growing due to factors such as new challenges in extreme environments (space, undersea, polar), contaminated contexts (nuclear, chemical, biological) and increasing awareness of earthquake risks. Advances in theory and practice of active control technology have modified the general perception of structures. This paper provides an overview of advances enabling feasible applications of active structures. Computing challenges that are important to the creation of the next generation of active structures are identified.