Collapse risk of tall steel moment frame buildings with viscous dampers subjected to large earthquakes

Abstract

AbstractThe design approach for tall steel moment frame structures with viscous dampers entails sizing steel members per code‐level strength forces, and sizing viscous dampers to limit storey drifts. This method has been used extensively in new and retrofit applications. This methodology has resulted in structures that have longer periods than those using the code‐designed approach, are economically competitive and have excellent performance in design‐level earthquakes. However, the efficacy of this design in extreme events is not well understood because of the lack of limit states data for dampers and the absence of a field or analytical database of such structures subjected to large earthquakes. Mathematical modelling of viscous dampers with limit states was developed, correlated with experimental results and then used to analyse 10‐storey archetypes. This analysis showed that the design had satisfactory performance during extreme seismic events. There were significant improvements in reducing collapse hazard by using an enhanced damper design with an increased damper safety factor. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.