Inerter-assisted pendulum-tuned mass damper for across-wind response control of tall buildings

Abstract

The present study proposes an inerter-assisted pendulum-tuned mass damper (IA-PTMD) to control across-wind response in tall buildings. An inerter is introduced between the pendulum’s mass and structure, thereby enhancing the structural control effectiveness of a classical one-story pendulum-tuned mass damper (PTMD). Across-wind response of a benchmark tall building with IA-PTMD is investigated in this study. The combined equations of motion were solved numerically using the state-space variable method. The design of the IA-PTMD was carried out using this numerical analysis, and optimum parameters were obtained. It is found that with a lower mass and inerter ratio, the structure does not require the addition of viscous dampers. With an identical structure mass ratio, IA-PTMD outperforms the PTMD and was found fairly robust against off-tuning due to uncertainties in building stiffness. From the results observed in this study, it can be concluded that an optimally designed IA-PTMD effectively controls across-wind response in tall buildings.