Semi-active damped outriggers for seismic protection of high-rise buildings

Abstract

High-rise buildings are a common feature of urban cities around the world. These flexible structures frequently exhibit large vibration due to strong winds and earthquakes. Structural control has been employed as an effective means to mitigate excessive responses; however, structural control mechanisms that can be used in tall buildings are limited primarily to mass and liquid dampers. An attractive alternative can be found in outrigger damping systems, where the bending deformation of the building is transformed into shear deformation across dampers placed between the outrigger and the perimeter columns. The outrigger system provides additional damping that can reduce structural responses, such as the floor displacements and accelerations. This paper investigates the potential of using smart dampers, specifically magnetorheological (MR) fluid dampers, in the outrigger system. First, a high-rise building is modeled to portray the St. Francis Shangri-La Place in Philippines. The optimal performance of the outrigger damping system for mitigation of seismic responses in terms of damper size and location also is subsequently evaluated. The efficacy of the semi-active damped outrigger system is finally verified through numerical simulation.