Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD) for Suppressing Horizontal Motion of Structures

Abstract

A new kind of passive mechanical damper, tuned liquid damper (TLD). is studied that relies upon the motion of shallow liquid in a rigid tank for changing the dynamic characteristics of a structure and dissipating its vibration energy. A nonlinear model of two‐dimensional liquid motion inside a rectangular TLD subjected to horizontal motion is developed on the basis of shallow‐water wave theory, where the damping of the liquid motion is included semianalytically. Using the model, the response of a structure with TLD is also computed. The liquid motion inside the TLD under harmonic base excitation and, furthermore, the response of a single‐degree‐of‐freedom structure with TLD, subjected to harmonic external force, are experimentally investigated. The agreement is good between the experiment and the prediction.