A Review of the Class of Bouc-Wen Differential Models for Simulating Mechanical Hysteresis Phenomena

One of the most popular hysteretic models used in many areas of engineering, especially the civil one, is the Bouc-Wen model. Although this model is able to simulate several types of hysteretic phenomena, it cannot describe some typical phenomena, such as cyclic degradation of strength and stiffness, pinching effect, and so on. For this reason, many researchers have proposed several variants of the original Bouc-Wen model. We present a review of the Bouc-Wen model and its most significant enhanced versions, utilizing the same technical terminology for all models in order to clarify and to shed some light on the number and physical significance of the parameters that the models require as input. Sensitivity analyses are also illustrated with respect to the input parameters.