Effects of using different arrangements and types of viscous dampers on seismic performance of intermediate steel moment frames in comparison with different passive dampers

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of using different passive control systems on the seismic performance of an eight-story intermediate steel moment frame was investigated. For this purpose, ten steel frames equipped with the linear and nonlinear fluid viscous dampers with three different arrangements, viscoelastic damper, Pall friction damper, and metallic damper (TADAS) were modeled and designed according to the ASCE 7-16 and AISC 360-16 provisions. To investigate the seismic behavior of each system, nonlinear time history analyses were performed using eleven ground motion records in OpenSees software. The seismic responses of the frames were studied and compared in terms of the maximum roof displacement, maximum story drift, maximum base shear, input energy, and dissipated energy through the dampers for different types and arrangements of dampers. The results revealed that the structures with dampers had an outstanding seismic performance compared to the original structure. Among the three arrangements considered for the viscous dampers, the toggle arrangement had a significantly better seismic performance compared to the Chevron and Diagonal damper arrangements. Also, nonlinear viscous dampers dissipated much more seismic input energy compared to linear viscous dampers that resulted in improved seismic performance of the frames. In addition, among the friction, metallic, and viscoelastic dampers, the friction damper had the most beneficial effects for the structures studied.