EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE VISCOUS TUNED MASS DAMPER FOR THE ATTENUATION OF STRUCTURAL RESPONSES

Abstract

This paper presents a systematic experimental investigation on the performance of a Multiple Tuned Mass Dampers (MTMDs) attached to a structural system under dynamic load excitation. A Modal Experimental Analysis (EMA) of a three-story structural frame equipped with a viscous damper system was carried out through a series of shaking table tests to evaluate the performance and verify the analysis approach. Each of the TMDs consists of a mass attached to a structural floor via Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) viscous bearing. Initially, the TMD was designed solely to control single mode vibration and then the mechanism is extended for the application of controlling multimode responses. The experiment demonstrated that the proposed viscous dampers exhibit good performance in reducing the response of structures under dynamic loads, and able to control both fundamental and higher vibration modes of a Multiple Degree of Freedom (MDOF) primary system effectively. It was also evident that the attachment of the air dashpot dampers to each of TMDs lead to better efficiency on controlling the amplification of the damper mass and significantly contribute to better structural modal tuning.