Unified Shear-Flexural Model for Vibration Control of Buildings Using Passive Dynamic Absorbers

A unified design model is proposed for various kinds of passive dynamic absorbers (PDAs) attached to buildings with different lateral resisting systems. A total of five different PDAs are considered in this study: (1) tuned mass damper (TMD), (2) circular tuned sloshing damper (C-TSD), (3) rectangular tuned sloshing damper (R-TSD), (4) two-way liquid damper (TWLD), and (5) pendulum tuned mass damper (PTMD). The unified model consists of a coupled shear-flexural (CSF) discrete model with equivalent tuned mass dampers (TMDs), which allows the consideration of intermediate modes of lateral deformation. By modifying the nondimensional lateral stiffness ratio, the CSF model can consider lateral deformations varying from those of a flexural cantilever beam to those of a shear cantilever beam. The unified model was applied to a 144-meter-tall building located in the Valley of Mexico, which was subjected to both seismic and along-wind loads. The building has similar fundamental periods of vibration and different nondimensional lateral stiffness ratios for both translational directions, which shows the importance of considering both bending and shear stiffness in the design of PDAs. The results show a great effectiveness of PDAs in controlling along-wind RMS accelerations of the building; on the contrary, PDAs were ineffective in controlling peak lateral displacements. For a single PDA attached at the rooftop level, the maximum possible value of the PDA mass efficiency index increases as the nondimensional lateral stiffness ratio decreases; therefore, there is an increase in the vibration control effectiveness of PDAs for lateral flexural-type deformations.

Study on Rational Ratios of Lateral Stiffness for Masonry Building with Frame Structure at First Two Stories

There are two typical seismic damage characteristics to the masonry building with frame shear wall structure at first two stories, and the lateral stiffness ratio of the third storey to the second storey is one of the key factors mostly affecting the seismic performance of this kind of building. However, some factors are not considered sufficiently in current Chinese seismic codes. According to the theory of performance-based seismic design, the seismic performance of this kind of structure is analyzed in this paper by taking time-history analysis on models which with different storey stiffness ratios. The results show that when the lateral stiffness ratio controlled in a reasonable range, the upper masonry deformation can be ensured in a range of elastic roughly, and the bottom frame can be guaranteed to have sufficient deformation and energy dissipation capacity. Finally, according to the seismic performance characteristics of masonry building with frame shear wall structure at first two stories, especially the characteristics under strong earthquakes, a method of simplified calculation model for the upper masonry is discussed in this paper.

Nonlinear Seismic Analysis of Masonry Infilled RC Frame Structures

Many RC frame structures were severely damaged or collapsed in some layer. The phenomenon was significantly different from the expected failure mode in seismic design code. This paper comprehensively sums up the earthquake characteristics of masonry infilled RC frame structures. Based on an investigation of a masonry infilled RC frame structure damaged in the earthquake area, conduct the research on frail-layer caused by infill walls uneven decorated. On the hypothesis of keeping the main load-bearing component invariant, two models were considered, i. e. frame with floor slab, and frame with both floor slab and infill wall. Furthermore, divide them into groups of the bottom, the middle and the top frail-layer to discuss by changing the arrange of infill wall. Time history analyses using three-dimensional sophisticated finite element method were conducted. The major findings are: 1)infill walls may significantly alter the failure mechanism of the RC frames. 2)controlling the initial interlayers lateral stiffness ratio in a reasonable range is an effective method to avoid frail-layer damage. These findings suggest that the effects of infill wall should be considered in seismic design, keep the initial interlayers lateral stiffness ratio less than the paper suggested, and the structural elasto-plastic analysis model should take slabs and infill walls into account.

Elastoplastic Seismic Response Analysis of Masonry Buildings with Variable Wall Thickness along Height

The multistory masonry buildings with variable wall thickness along the height have suffered different degrees of damage subjected to the Wenchuan earthquake. In order to study the failure mechanism of such masonry structure under the earthquake, three types of five-story structure of computational model are firstly introduced in this paper, including (1) the wall thickness of five stories is 240mm; (2) the wall thickness of the first floor is 370mm, and that of the upper four stories is 240mm; (3) the wall thickness of the first and second story is 370mm, and that of the other stories is 240mm. Then, the elastoplastic time-history dynamic analysis is carried on with the story shear model by the finite element method, and the ground motion of El Centro waves are adopted as earthquake input motion. The analysis results show that variation of wall thickness along height can easily cause stiffness mutation of the upper and lower floor, lead to local floor deformation concentration and soft floors, and the change of failure mechanism of the structure. Finally, it is suggested that some appropriate seismic resistance measures should be taken to meet the lateral stiffness ratio of the upper and lower floor in the later design of this structure, or this kind of structure should be avoided using as far as possible.