Seismic Analysis of Adjacent Inelastic Structures Connected with Hysteretic Dampers under Near-Fault Earthquakes

Abstract

Seismic responses of two adjacent structures coupled with non-linear hysteretic dampers subjected to near-fault ground motions were investigated. The nonlinearity of the structure was characterized by the Bouc-Wen model. A series of near-fault earthquakes were simulated via the artificial synthetic method as well. Initially, coupled equation of motion for the two connected inelastic structures was formulated. Then, extensive parametric studies were conducted to investigate the optimum yield force and yield displacement of non-linear hysteretic dampers. Furthermore, the performances of hysteretic dampers in terms of reducing structural responses were investigated. The results show that using non-linear hysteretic dampers to connect adjacent inelastic structures can effectively mitigate the kinetic energy of adjacent structures if the yield force and yield displacement of dampers are appropriately selected. The proper yield force and yield displacement have small differences as adjacent structures are under different near-fault earthquakes with different values of participation coefficient of equivalent velocity pulse.