Applications of Viscoelastic Dampers to High‐Rise Buildings

Abstract

In this paper, the features of energy‐absorbing capacities of the viscoelastic damper and its effect on the structure during earthquakes are investigated. To clarify the behavior of the structure with added viscoelastic dampers, a new analytical model for the viscoelastic damper taking into consideration the earthquakelike loading and the temperature effect, in good agreement with experimental results, and an advanced finite element formulation for the viscoelastic damper are developed. The proposed method could be implemented easily in the finite element program. In this study the behavior of a 10‐story building equipped with viscoelastic dampers is examined while it is subjected to earthquake ground motions. Both analytical and experimental results show that the energy‐absorbing capacity of the viscoelastic damper decreases with increasing the ambient temperature. Numerical examples show that the responses, including displacements and stresses, of the high‐rise building to earthquake loadings are significantly reduced while viscoelastic dampers are added to it.