Numerical seismic analysis of moment-resisting frames with viscous dampers

Abstract

Viscous damper is a supplementary damping device which increase the damping ratio of structure and dissipates the energy of a seismic load. Supplementary damping systems can be categorized to active, semi-active and passive. General, passive damping devices may be classified as either displacement-dependent or motion-depended, or a combination thereof, and may be configured to act in either a linear or nonlinear. Damping device is a flexible structural element that dissipates energy due to relative motion of each end of the device. They include all the components required to connect damping devices to other elements of the structure and may have several geometrical configurations. In this dissertation is examined the appropriate design procedure of the distribution of fluid viscous dampers in the structure. It is considered a preliminary method to define the target damping ratio. Numerical seismic analysis is governed under a finite element software (SAP2000©), to determine the response of several plane and three-dimensional moment resisting frames. The beneficial of the installation of dampers is evaluated under structural analysis. The results compared from a maximum inter-storey drift and an energy point of view. The possibility of a better economical solution compared to traditional anti seismic techniques is also discussed. Finally, future requirements are proposed.