A vertical‐vibro‐impact‐enhanced track bistable nonlinear energy sink for robust and comprehensive control of structures

Abstract

Summary Nonlinear energy sinks (NESs) are a type of frequency‐robust mass dampers which have been proposed as a favorable strategy for control problems with frequency uncertainties. However, the control efficiency of NESs heavily depends on the vibrational energy. To solve this issue, different enhancement measures including the negative stiffness, peaking behavior, and vibro impact are adopted by the proposed device in this study. The so‐called vertical‐vibro‐impact track bistable nonlinear energy sink (VVI track BNES) utilizes the track configuration to generate bistable nonlinearity and the VVI to further facilitate energy dissipation without causing huge structural accelerations. The paper commences with detailed descriptions of the formation and dynamic equations of the VVI track BNES. The physical model of the VVI track BNES is then realized and experimental studies are carried out on a three‐story steel frame structure with changeable stiffness when subjected to impulsive excitation. Subsequently, the VVI track BNES is numerically compared with a number of counterpart devices for a systematic evaluation under both optimal and non‐optimal situations. Finally, the seismic performance of the VVI track BNES is examined under fourteen ground motions and a simple measure in the VVI track BNES is put forward for further improvement. The results show that the VVI track BNES outperforms the other devices with high control efficiency, strong robustness against both energy and frequency changes, limited space demand, lack of adverse effect, and simple but effective adjustment measure, which provides an ideal control strategy for comprehensive control of structures.

A novel vari-potential bistable nonlinear energy sink for improved vibration suppression: Numerical and experimental study

“…The scholars in Refs. [37][38][39][40] have developed several track BNESs for seismic performance testing of civil and building structures. Refs.…”

NES cell

“…In experimental studies, in addition to some track-based NESs [3][4] and impact NESs [5] , the essential nonlinear restoring forces of the NESs are usually provided by wire ropes [6][7] and coiled springs [8][9] . NES has shown excellent vibration reduction performance in experiment [6] .…”