Dynamic properties of the hysteretic Bouc-Wen model

The Bouc-Wen model, widely used in structural and mechanical engineering, gives an analytical description of a smooth hysteretic behavior. In practice, the Bouc-Wen model is mostly used within the following black-box approach: given a set of experimental input–output data, how to adjust the Bouc-Wen model parameters so that the output of the model matches the experimental data. It may happen that a Bouc-Wen model presents a good matching with the experimental real data for a specific input, but does not necessarily keep significant physical properties which are inherent to the real data, independently of the exciting input. This paper presents a characterization of the different classes of Bouc-Wen models in terms of their bounded input-bounded output stability property, and their capability for reproducing physical properties inherent to the true system they are to model.