A particle inerter system for structural seismic response mitigation

Abstract

This study introduces a novel particle inerter system (PIS) designed for vibration mitigation of structures. The new system comprises an inerter subsystem, a spring, and a tuned particle element, where the spring is used for tuning the particle element and the inerter subsystem is set for energy absorption and dissipation. The structural performance and the vibration mitigation effect of the PIS are assessed in terms of displacement and acceleration responses. An optimal design method is developed for a PIS under a performance-oriented design framework. Following the criterion of lightweight control, the added mass of the PIS is minimized under the constraints of target displacement and acceleration responses. A parametric analysis is performed and the robustness of the PIS for seismic response mitigation is verified. Design cases are carried out for the illustration of the proposed design method. The results show that the structural displacement and acceleration responses can be reduced significantly with the help of a PIS. Compared with the particle tuned mass damper with the same parameters, both the energy absorption and dissipation effects of the PIS are increased and the relative displacement response of the container in the PIS is reduced by the inerter subsystem. Under the same performance target, the required physical mass of the container and particles in the PIS is minimized and is significantly smaller than that of the conventional particle tuned mass damper.