Experimental study on TLDs equipped with an upper mounted baffle

Abstract

Tuned Liquid Dampers (TLDs) have gained wide acceptance as a system for structural control and energy dissipation. However, they face limitation caused by low damping in deep water, which affects their efficiency. Another problem with deep water TLDs is that not all water depth participates in energy dissipation. This paper investigated the effect of upper mounted baffles on the effectiveness of TLDs. The Vertical Blockage Ratio (VBR) of baffles ranged from 10% - 90%. The TLD (with and without baffle), structure, and combined structure with TLD (with and without baffles) were subjected to free and harmonic forced vibrations. Results indicated that baffles could significantly enhance the energy dissipation of TLDs, thus reducing structural responses more than structures equipped with ordinary TLDs. It was found that, there was an optimum value of VBR in which the TLD\'s efficiency was maximized. When TLD had an appropriate VBR, the structural acceleration and displacement responses were suppressed significantly up to 51% and 56%, respectively.