Performance evaluation of an MR damper in building structures considering soil–structure interaction effects

Abstract

SUMMARYSince the force generated by a magneto-rheological (MR) damper has large nonlinearity, the performance of an MR damper is dependent on response characteristics such as frequency and amplitude. Soil-structure interaction (SSI) is generally known to have a large effect on the seismic response of a building structure. In this study, the performance of an MR damper in mitigating the seismic response of a building structure is evaluated considering the SSI effects. First, the performance variance of an MR damper due to the change of the structural natural period is investigated by constructing its normalized response spectrum through the numerical analysis of many earthquake wave records and the natural period of a structure. The variable friction force of an MR damper is normalized by the structural base shear force, and its amplitude and decrement of response are quantitatively evaluated. Then, the response characteristics of the SSI system due to the lengthening of the structural natural period and various soil conditions are numerically evaluated based on the response spectrum analysis. Finally, the numerical results with and without considering the SSI effects are comparatively evaluated for the building structure with an MR damper. The comparison results show that the SSI effect should be considered in order that the undesirable effect of an MR damper on the structural control would not be neglected.

Strength reduction factor for MDOF soil-structure systems

“…More recently, several studies were conducted to investigate the effect of SSI on SDOF and MDOF structural response (Galal and Naimi, ; Lee et al ., ; Halabian and Erfani, ; Finn et al ., ). As an instance, Halabian and Erfani (), by considering some limited generic reinforced concrete (RC) frame models resting on flexible foundations, evaluated the effects of stiffness and strength of the structure on strength reduction factors.…”

Behaviour of uni-axially loaded concrete-filled-steel-tube columns confined by external rings

“…There are different methods for the design of tall buildings subjected to extreme loadings (e.g. earthquake attack), which includes base-isolation methods (Khoshnoudian and Azad, 2011;Mehrparvar and Khoshnoudian, 2011;Yamamoto et al, 2011); installation of semi-active dampers (Ribakov, 2011a(Ribakov, , 2011b, active dampers (Ribakov and Agranovich, 2011a), passive dampers (Chung et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2009;Ribakov and Agranovich, 2011b) and tuned mass dampers (Heo et al, 2009;Marano and Greco, 2009;Mohebbi and Joghataie, 2012) and by reinforcement details such that a plastic hinge region can be formed to dissipate energy through inelastic deformation without structural collapse (Pam and Ho, 2009;Yan and Au, 2010). Amongst these measures, the last method is generally applicable to medium-rise and tall buildings for performance-based design approach (Sabol and Nishi, 2011), while the former methods are only cost-effectively for very tall buildings.…”

Limited ductility design of reinforced concrete columns for tall buildings in low to moderate seismicity regions

“…For structures located in seismic risk regions, the design of HSRC structures should consider appropriate methods of dissipating the enormous energy induced by earthquake attack. This can be generally achieved by installing dampers (Chung et al ., 2009; Heo et al ., 2009; Lee et al ., 2009; Marano and Greco, 2009), adopting base isolation design (Ribakov, 2009; Takewaki and Fujita, 2009; Yamamoto et al ., 2009) or by careful detailing of reinforcement such that plastic hinges could be formed at designated location(s) to dissipate excessive energy through inelastic structural damage but not collapse (Park, 2001). Comparing with the installation of dampers and adopting base isolation method, the method of reinforcement detailing is less costly and is applicable to all types of structures.…”