Identification of Bouc Wen hysteretic systems by a hybrid evolutionary algorithm

A new identification method that determines the parameters of Bouc-Wen hysteretic systems is presented. It is based on a hybrid evolutionary algorithm which utilizes selected stochastic operators, heuristics and problem-specific information. The proposed method exhibits efficiency, robustness and insensitivity to noise-corrupted data, while it identifies accurately both hysteretic and viscous damping based on suitable experiments. Its performance is investigated with respect to the information content of the input-output data. The scheme is verified by a hysteretic system representing a full-scale steel cantilever beam which is identified successfully. A series of parametric studies are also conducted that illustrate the inner workings of the proposed method, suggesting appropriate values for the controlling parameters.