Effects of Brace Stiffness and Nonlinearity of Viscous Dampers on Seismic Performance of Structures

Siyuan Li, Yung Tsang Chen, Y. H. Chai, Bo Li

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the applications of supplemental dampers for seismic hazard mitigation, the supporting braces for the dampers are considered an important component for ensuring an efficient energy dissipation in the structure. Despite their importance, studies on the effects of the brace stiffness and the velocity exponent in the case of nonlinear viscous dampers are rather limited. In this paper, a numerical time-stepping method is developed for computing the seismic response of the structure with supporting braces and nonlinear viscous dampers. Using the proposed method, effects of the parameters of the nonlinear damper-brace systems are investigated, using first a single-story structure, followed by multi-story buildings. Results indicated that the design parameters for the dampers and supporting braces may be combined in numerous ways to satisfy a given set of structural performance objectives, but the brace stiffness can be minimized to achieve design efficiency in the range of velocity exponent commonly used for seismic applications of nonlinear viscous dampers. Results also indicated that for a set brace stiffness, if the dampers are optimally designed, the velocity exponent has an insignificant effect on the structural seismic performance objectives considered in this paper.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2150188
JournalInternational Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics
Volume21
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • Nonlinear viscous damper
  • optimal design
  • supporting brace

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Ocean Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Applied Mathematics

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