Optimal placement of friction dampers in building considering nonlinearity of soil

Abstract

It is well known fact that, supplemental damping is one of the best way to improve the performance of building during seismic event. Out of many supplemental damping devices, friction dampers are widely used as they are easier to install and independent of temperature like viscous dampers. Generally, these devices are designed assuming fixed base conditions. Even for achieving optimal number and location of friction dampers, fixed base conditions are assumed. But, when the soil–structure interaction is considered in analysis, degradation in the capacity of structure is observed. Hence, in this paper a methodology is proposed for optimal placement of friction dampers considering nonlinear soil-foundation system. The numerical study on G + 6 storey building is done to evaluate the efficiency of proposed methodology with the use of 4, 8 and 12 friction dampers. For optimization, performance objectives based on maximum base shear, top floor displacement and energy dissipation are used. From the study, it is seen that proposed approach yields targeted performance, even with less number of friction dampers when the nonlinearity of soil is considered.