Inerter-based Vibration Absorbers Research Articles

Pole-Placement-Based Calibration of an Electromagnetically Realizable Inerter-Based Vibration Absorber (IDVA) for Rotating Wind Turbine Blades

This paper deals with edgewise vibration mitigation of rotating wind turbine blades by means of inerter-based vibration absorber (IDVA), which can be realized both mechanically and electromagnetically. Introducing the electromagnetically-realizable IDVA to the blade forms a 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) blade-IDVA system consisting of the rotating blade, an absorber, and a series inerter-dashpot-spring subsystem. Analytical optimal design formulas of the rotating blade-installed IDVA are then derived using a pole-placement method where the equal-modal-damping-ratio principle and the triple-root-bifurcation condition are applied. The analytical formulas show that the optimal parameters for the blade-IDVA system merely depend on the spinning speed of the rotor given the IDVA location and the absorber mass. Numerical results of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine with optimal IDVA show that optimal IDVA leads to superior performance than optimal TMD in mitigating the blade edgewise vibration and behaves nearly as same as optimal RIDTMD, along with slightly optimal damper parameters variation. This means that the inerter-dashpot-spring system can be deployed flexibly for damping edgewise vibrations of rotating blades.

Hybrid analytical H-norm optimization approach for dynamic vibration absorbers

Conventionally, single-targeted H∞ or H2 optimization methods are adopted to determine the optimal parameters of different Dynamic Vibration Absorbers (DVAs) individually. A generic analytical framework for various DVAs considering a dual-target of H∞ and H2 norms is lacking. Addressing these issues, a hybrid analytical H∞-H2 optimization approach is proposed, leading to closed-form optimal solutions characterized by equal-height fixed points and conditional minimum H2-norms, combining the advantages of H∞ and H2 solutions. The proposed method is completely based on arbitrary filter coefficients of the targeted transfer function. Therefore, it can be generically applied for various DVAs. With the proposed method, the analytical optimal parameters of Negative-Stiffness Inerter-based Tuned Mass Systems (NS-ITMSs) are obtained based on an extended generic representation model considering multiple parameters. In extension, the method is illustratively applied on three complicated DVAs, including a Lever-type Inerter-based Vibration Absorber with Negative Stiffness (NS-LIVA) considering a leverage effect, a Piezoelectric Shunt Damping System (PSDS) considering an electro-mechanical coupling effect, and a Negative-Stiffness Tuned Viscous Mass Damper (NS-TVMD) for vibration isolator considering a transmissibility target. The closed-form solutions for these advanced DVAs are obtained for engineering reference. Furthermore, this method can be extended for more complicated energy dissipation or harvesting techniques.

A novel lever-type inerter-based vibration absorber

A novel Lever-type Inerter-based Vibration Absorber (LIVA) is proposed. The proposed LIVA is based on a lever supported on a flexible auxiliary structure, connecting between the primary structure and a paralleled inerter-dashpot system. Based on analytical H∞ and H2 optimization, the formulas of the optimal parameters for the LIVA are derived. The parametric influences on optimal parameters and control performance of the LIVA are systematically investigated. Consequently, the control performance of the LIVA can be enhanced by increasing the auxiliary mass, lever ratio, or the frequency of the auxiliary structure. Considering practical aspect, the influences of damping ratios are discussed to compensate the assumptions adopted in analytical optimization. Thus, a design criterion is proposed to ensure the effectiveness of the LIVA. Finally, the vibration absorption performance of the LIVA is illustrated and compared through time domain analysis subjected to a recent earthquake event. The results have shown that the proposed LIVA exhibits a superior control performance than traditional TMD and another lever-type vibration absorber reported in a literature due to the leverage and inertance effects. Moreover, compared to the existed lever-type vibration absorbers with a fixed fulcrum, the proposed LIVA supported by a flexible auxiliary structure appears more feasible in practice.

Analytical optimal design of inerter-based vibration absorbers with negative stiffness balancing static amplification and dynamic reduction effects

Negative stiffness (NS) is effective to enhance the control performance of dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) on dynamic excitations. Traditional optimal design of NS-DVAs is based on an extension of fixed-point approach, which equalizes the triple fixed points of the dynamic amplification function (DAF) to achieve approximate analytical H∞ optimization for dynamic reduction. However, this leads to an amplification of DAF around the zero frequency, resulting in a significant static amplification effect. For vibration control of purely dynamically excited structures, such as earthquake, the static amplification is neglected. However, for vibrations excited combining static and dynamic components (particularly, wind load), the static amplification may lead to adverse control effect, or even magnify the peak response. In order to avoid this disadvantage, an analytical optimal design approach for inerter-based vibration absorbers (IVAs) with NS (NS-IVAs) is proposed for balancing the static amplification and dynamic reduction effects. Firstly, the parameters of NS-IVAs with respect to the negative stiffness are analytically obtained with fixed-point approach. Subsequently, the characteristics of static amplification and dynamic reduction factors are analyzed. Combining the two factors weighted by the dynamic-static proportion, the control performance factor on the peak response is defined and optimized. Consequently, based on parametric studies, the relationship between the negative stiffness parameter and dynamic-static proportion is empirically formulated for practical application. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated based on the numerical example for wind-induced vibration control. The results have shown that the proposed approach is particularly effective for the excitations dynamically characterized by low frequency and mixed with static components.

Broadband Rayleigh wave attenuation utilizing an inertant seismic metamaterial

In this work, a concept of constructing inertant seismic metamaterials for Rayleigh wave attenuation using inerter-based vibration absorbers (IDVAs) is proposed. The dynamic behaviors of the vibration absorbers are controlled by an inertant mechanical network, while three typical oscillator configurations are considered in the design of the proposed inertant seismic metamaterial. An expanded effective medium method is developed to obtain the dispersion of Rayleigh waves, which is separated into three branches by two broad Rayleigh wave band gaps at low frequencies. The influences of the inertance-to-mass ratio as well as the stiffness ratio on the Rayleigh wave propagation are thoroughly discussed. The results show that the multiple-resonance IDVAs can efficiently open low frequency band gaps of the inertant seismic metamaterial without having to increase the mass of the resonators. Band gaps of the low-frequency Rayleigh waves can be further merged to form an extra wide one by adding dissipative mechanisms, which further enhance the attenuation of the Rayleigh waves. Specifically, by analyzing the corresponding displacement fields, it is observed that the seismic energy propagating as Rayleigh surface waves is converted to that propagating as bulk waves not concentrated to the surface, which offers a protected area behind the inertant seismic metamaterials for the facilities located at the surface of the half space. This work provides a new approach for seismic vibration isolations utilizing inertant seismic metamaterials that can be applied in protecting large infrastructures or civil engineering architectures.

Equivalent Static Wind Load for Structures with Inerter-Based Vibration Absorbers

Equivalent Static Wind Loads (ESWL) are desired in structural design to consider peak dynamic wind effects. Conventional ESWLs are for structures without control. For flexible structures with vibration control devices, the investigation of ESWL is required. Inerter-based Vibration Absorbers (IVAs), due to the light weight and high performance, gained much research attention recently. This paper established a generic analytical framework of ESWL for structures with IVAs. The analytical optimal design formulas for IVAs with different configurations and installation locations are provided. Subsequently, the solutions to uncontrolled and controlled wind-induced responses are derived based on the filter approach. Finally, the ESWL for controlled structures are presented with a gust response factor approach. The ESWL estimation for a tall chimney controlled by IVAs is illustrated, and the results revealed a significant ESWL reduction effect of the IVAs, particularly for the cross-wind vortex resonance. In the presented framework, the conventional uncontrolled ESWL can be converted to the controlled one with a control ratio. The closed form solution of the control ratio is provided, which enables a quick estimation of ESWL for controlled structures particularly in the preliminary design stage. The presented approach has the potential to be extended to more complex structures and vibration control devices.

Targeted modal response control of structures with inerter-based vibration absorbers considering modal interaction effects

Inerter-based vibration absorbers (IVAs) have been widely studied for the vibration control of multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structures. Common analytical optimization strategies of IVAs for controlling the modal response of a specific mode neglect the contributions from non-resonant modes (denoted as modal interaction effects hereafter), which could weaken the validity of the optimum solution, while directly employing numerical search methods usually implies expensive computational costs in repeatedly evaluating control objectives under different sets of IVA parameters. To aim at both accuracy and efficiency of optimum design solution of IVAs for targeted modal response control, the Sherman-Morrison inversion (SMI) is exploited in this paper to derive explicit expressions of frequency response functions (FRFs) of IVA-controlled structures based on an MDOF model established in modal coordinates. In this way, the non-zero off-diagonal elements and precise expressions of diagonal elements in the FRF matrix are explicitly incorporated in the design process, with full account for modal interaction effects. The SMI is further implemented to calculate the FRF matrix of structures controlled by multi-IVA (MIVA) in an iterative manner, and subsequently, design strategies for targeted modal control using (M)IVA are proposed with particular focuses on wind-resistance and seismic design. Based on a high-rise building taken as the case study, the accuracy and efficiency in calculating the FRF matrix are quantitively assessed by Monte Carlo simulations. Two design examples, i.e., using a single tuned inerter damper (TID) for wind-resistance design and using a multi-TID for seismic design, are presented to validate the precision and efficiency of proposed design strategies. The results indicate that modal interaction effects are increasingly important for the design of (M)IVAs having larger inertance or being tuned to higher modes.

Seismic protection of reinforced concrete continuous girder bridges with inerter-based vibration absorbers

Reinforced concrete (RC) continuous girder bridges located in earthquake-prone areas are susceptible to large vibrations under seismic excitation, which may lead to the damage of the connection between the girder and pier. The present study proposes a multi viscous inerter dampers (MVIDs) system installed between the girder and piers to control the transverse seismic vibrations of RC continuous girder bridges. The governing equations of the MVIDs-controlled continuous girder bridge under earthquake excitation are first formulated. Then, a numerical case study of an RC continuous girder bridge with five piers equipped with MVIDs is analyzed to demonstrate its vibration mitigation performance. Design parameters of MVIDs are optimized using multi-objective genetic algorithm aimed at minimizing the relative displacement between pier caps and girder. For comparative purposes, the mitigation effects of a traditional multi viscous dampers (MVDs) system are also discussed to highlight the advantages of MVIDs. It is found that the MVIDs can achieve mean reduction ratios of 82.3%, 75.7%, and 76.2% in the peak transverse relative displacements of the nodes where the MVIDs are installed. The maximum reduction ratios of the mean maximum displacement and acceleration responses are 70.7% and 41.1%, respectively. In general, MVIDs have a better seismic control effect than MVDs. Robustness analysis of the optimally designed MVIDs is also performed under perturbation to the lateral stiffness of rubber bearings and damping ratios of viscous dampers. The analysis of robustness indicates that control effects of MVIDs are more sensitive to the damping ratio than the lateral stiffness of rubber bearing.

An integrated equivalent tuned‐mass‐inerter vibration absorber and its optimal design

Inerters have been widely used in the vibration suppression of automobile and civil structures, due to its large capability in kinetic energy. When applying inerters at the free end of a structure, additional lumped mass has to be involved for obtaining the driving force, which may not be beneficial to the integrity of the device. In this paper, an integrated equivalent tuned mass damper with inerter (ETMDI), having the mass with respect to both translational motion and rotation in a single device, is proposed. First, the equation of motion for the proposed ETMDI system is derived from the Lagrange's equation. The extended fixed-point theory is next used to obtain the closed-form expression for the optimal parameters. Taking a single degree-of-freedom system and a wind turbine tower, numerical simulations are further performed considering base excitations. Compared to the classical TMD and the inerter-based vibration absorber (IDVA-C4), the efficiency and robustness of the proposed ETMDI have been confirmed, showing its potential in energy absorbing and vibration mitigation applications.

Structural control of high-rise buildings subjected to multi-hazard excitations using inerter-based vibration absorbers

High-rise buildings located in strong wind and earthquake-prone regions are exposed to multiple hazards that must be properly considered to prevent considerable socio-economic losses. In the present study, the Tuned Mass Damper-Inerter (TMDI) is adopted for the structural control of high-rise buildings under wind and earthquake excitations by exploiting its inherent multiple-mode control effects. A generalized multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) model of TMDI-controlled structure is established first and compared with the commonly-adopted generalized single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model. Analytical investigation on the multiple-mode control effects of TMDI demonstrates that the damping effects weighted by mode coordinate differences at two terminals of TMDI are mainly responsible for its multiple-mode control effects. Based on a real high-rise building project, analysis errors induced by the generalized SDOF model against the more accurate generalized MDOF model are quantified by a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation, which suggests the necessity of adopting numerical search for parametric design of TMDI under most circumstances. Therefore, the parameters of TMDI and its two competitors, i.e., Multi-Tuned Mass Damper (MTMD) and Multi-Tuned Mass Damper-Inerter (MTMDI), are optimized using a genetic algorithm, assuming both wind- and earthquake-induced responses as performance objectives. Time and frequency domain analyses demonstrate the efficiency of utilizing the multiple-mode control effects of a single TMDI for multi-hazard design. The trend of the equivalent damping ratio of TMDI-controlled structure on an arbitrary mode is analyzed to identify the design parameters affecting most the TMDI multiple-mode control effect at last.

Seismic Performance of the Inerter and Negative Stiffness–Based Dampers for Vibration Control of Structures

Passive energy dissipation devices or supplemental damping devices have been successfully implemented into structures for controlling the excessive vibrations under wind and seismic excitation. Recent developments in the form of negative stiffness dampers (NSDs) and inerter-based vibration absorbers (IVAs) as potential energy dissipation devices are of considerable interest to researchers. The present study evaluates the performance of the combined NSD and IVA as a possible alternative to the traditional energy dissipation devices such as viscous dampers (VDs) and viscoelastic dampers (VEDs). The mathematical formulation and optimal design of the combined NSD and IVA mechanism are presented. A 20-storey benchmark building is modeled as a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) shear building. The dynamic equations for the MDOF building are written in the state-space form, and a simple optimization approach based on effective modal damping is prescribed. Comparative performance between traditionally applied and novel IVA and NSD is investigated. The design considerations to analyze structures employing combined NSDs and IVAs are developed. It is demonstrated that NSDs and IVA-based passive energy dissipation devices are the most efficient devices in reducing inter-storey drifts and floor accelerations compared with VDs and VEDs using the same damping coefficient.

Tuned-mass-damper-inerter optimal design and performance assessment for multi-storey hysteretic buildings under seismic excitation

Inerter-based vibration absorbers (IVAs), such as the tuned-mass-damper-inerter (TMDI), have become popular in recent years for the earthquake protection of building structures. Previous studies using linear structural models have shown that IVAs can achieve enhanced vibration suppression, but at the expense of increased control forces exerted from the IVA to the host building structure. The authors recently developed a bi-objective IVA design framework for linearly behaving buildings to balance between structural performance (drift/acceleration suppression) and IVA forces. This paper extends the framework to multi-storey hysteretic/yielding structures under seismic excitation. Though the proposed design framework can accommodate any type of IVA, the focus is herein on TMDI applications, with tuned-mass-damper (TMD) and tuned-inerter-damper (TID) treated as special cases of the TMDI. Earthquake hazard is modeled through representative, design-level acceleration time-histories and response of the IVA-equipped structure is evaluated through nonlinear response-history analysis. A high-fidelity finite element model (FEM) is established to accurately describe hysteretic structural behavior. To reduce the computational burden, a reduced order model (ROM) is based on the original FEM, using the framework proposed recently by the first and second authors. The ROM maintains the accuracy of the original FEM while enabling for a computationally efficient solution to the optimization problem. As an illustrative example, the bi-objective design for different IVA placements along the height of a non-linear benchmark 9-storey steel frame structure is examined. The accuracy of the ROM-based design is evaluated by comparing performance to the FEM-based response predictions across the entire Pareto front resulting from the bi-objective optimization. Then, the designs and associated performance predicted by using a linear or a nonlinear structural model are compared to evaluate how the explicit consideration of nonlinearities, as well as the degree of nonlinear behavior, impact the IVA design and efficiency.

Optimum design for a novel inerter-based vibration absorber with an amplified inertance and grounded stiffness for enhanced vibration control

This article presents the results of the study of a novel inerter-based vibration absorber with an amplified inertance mechanism and grounded stiffness, to control excessive vibrational movements of an excited primary structure. The inerter vibration absorber used in this study acts as a passive tuned inerter damper. An undamped primary structure model with a single degree of freedom controlled by the proposed inerter vibration absorber is developed and used to derive the equations of motion of the coupled system. The optimum frequency ratio and the optimum damping ratio of inerter vibration absorber are found using the fixed point theory for harmonic force-excited primary structures. Then, the optimum grounded stiffness ratio is deduced. Based on the inclusion of an amplified inertance mechanism, it is found that for given inertance mass ratio, the change in the amplification ratio results in three cases for the optimum grounded stiffness ratio, that is, negative, zero, and positive. From these three cases of grounded stiffness, the inerter vibration absorber with positive grounded stiffness has demonstrated the best control performance. Under optimum parameters, the results indicate that the inerter vibration absorber in this article outperforms some existing inerter vibration absorbers under the harmonic excitation, in terms of decreases in the peak vibration response of the primary system and widens the suppression bandwidth. Finally, the further comparison among the inerter vibration absorber under random (white noise) excitation also shows that the model in this article is superior to other inerter vibration absorbers in terms of smallest mean square response and smallest variance of the time history of the primary system.

A unified analysis of negative stiffness dampers and inerter-based absorbers for multimode cable vibration control

This paper performs a unified analysis of multimode damping effects of negative stiffness and inerter mechanisms when combined with a viscous damper for cable vibration control. They are referred to as negative stiffness dampers (NSDs) and inerter-based vibration absorbers (IVAs), respectively. Multimode control of cable vibrations is of practical importance because wind-rain induced cable vibrations typically have frequencies in the range of 1 Hz to 3 Hz which covers a number of modes of long cables. The NSD and IVAs have been extensively studied for enhancing damping of a particular cable mode while multimode cable vibration control using such devices is still absent in the literature. Therefore, this study begins with a discussion of an ideal NSD for multimode cable vibration control. Dynamic properties of a typical NSD and four typical IVAs with respect to vibration frequency are then examined with reference to the ideal NSD. Subsequently, multimode damping effects of all the devices when attached to a cable respectively are investigated in details using an analytical method. Their performances and tuning conditions are discussed in depth. Analytical results show that theoretically an NSD improves damping for each cable mode equally and hence it can achieve multimode damping enhancement per design requirement. To balance damping effects for multiple cable modes, an upper bound of damping enhancement exists when using an IVA. Particularly, an IVA with an inerter and a viscous damper with intrinsic stiffness in series (so-called tuned inerter damper) has the best performance among the investigated IVAs. The characteristic frequency of this type of IVA needs to be close to the lowest frequency of target cable modes and a relatively large inertance is needed. The analytical results are then exemplified by a case study for damper design of a real cable of 454.1 m long. The analytical findings have further been verified by numerical analyses on multimode responses of the cable with the investigated devices respectively.

Novel inerter-based absorbers for suppressing beams vibration under successive moving loads

Inerter-based vibration absorbers are new generations of tuned mass dampers. The property of the inerter is that the relative acceleration between its two terminals is proportional to produced force. This paper proposes the use of inerter-based vibration absorbers for suppressing the beam vibration under successive moving loads. The vibrational system possesses continuous beam model accompanying by inerter-based vibration absorbers. The effectiveness of this new type of vibration absorber compared with the ordinary linear vibration absorber. The partial differential governing equation converts to a system of ordinary differential equations using the Bubnov–Galerkin method. The optimal parameters of the inerter-based vibration absorbers are presented. The results show that this novel vibration absorber can reduce vibration 37% more than the optimized classical linear vibration absorbers. Some results give quasi-beating response for the beam possesses inerter-based vibration absorbers.

Improved inerter-based vibration absorbers

This paper presents improved inerter-based absorbers for vibration mitigation of structural systems. The driving innovative concept is to include a standard inerter-based device within a rhombus truss; specifically, the inerter-based device is connected to the two ends of one diagonal of the rhombus truss and activated by the motion of the structural system along the other diagonal. It is shown that, in this manner, a significant amplification of the inertance can be attained, depending on the diagonal ratio of the rhombus truss. The concept is presented for three typical inerter-based absorbers existing in the literature. The performances of the improved inerter-based devices are investigated and compared thoroughly, as applied to single-degree-of-freedom systems. The optimal tuning is implemented following a well-established procedure, entirely analytical, which makes the design of the improved inerter-based devices very straightforward. A further novelty, particularly appealing for design purposes, is that the improved inerter-based absorbers can be re-tuned over a certain frequency range by changing only the geometry of the rhombus truss, with considerable benefits in those cases where the structural system parameters may vary during the operational lifetime. For completeness, an application to a multi-degree-of-freedom system substantiates the effectiveness of the proposed concept.

Parametric optimization of an inerter-based vibration absorber for wind-induced vibration mitigation of a tall building

he inerter-based vibration absorber (IVA) is an enhanced variation of Tuned Mass Damper (TMD). The parametric optimization of absorbers in the previous research mainly considered only two decision variables, namely frequency ratio and damping ratio, and aimed to minimize peak displacement and acceleration individually under the excitation of the across-wind load. This paper extends these efforts by minimizing two conflicting objectives simultaneously, i.e., the extreme displacement and acceleration at the top floor, under the constraint of the physical mass. Six decision variables are optimized by adopting a constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (CMOEA), i.e., NSGA-II, under fluctuating across- and along-wind loads, respectively. After obtaining a set of optimal individuals, a decision-making approach is employed to select one solution which corresponds to a Tuned Mass Damper Inerter/Tuned Inerter Damper (TMDI/TID). The optimization procedure is applied to parametric optimization of TMDI/TID installed in a 340-meter-high building under wind loads. The case study indicates that the optimally-designed TID outperforms TMDI and TMD in terms of wind-induced vibration mitigation under different wind directions, and the better results are obtained by the CMOEA than those optimized by other formulae. The optimal TID is proven to be robust against variations in the mass and damping of the host structure, and mitigation effects on acceleration responses are observed to be better than displacement control under different wind directions.

Wind-Induced Response Control of High-Rise Buildings Using Inerter-Based Vibration Absorbers

The beneficial mass-amplification effect induced by the inerter can be conveniently used in enhanced variants of the traditional Tuned Mass Damper (TMD), namely the Tuned Mass-Damper-Inerter (TMDI) and its special case of Tuned Inerter Damper (TID). In this paper, these inerter-based vibration absorbers are studied for mitigating the wind-induced response of high-rise buildings, with particular emphasis on a 340 m tall building analyzed as case study. To adopt a realistic wind-excitation model, the analysis is based on aerodynamic forces computed through experimental wind tunnel tests for a scaled prototype of the benchmark building, which accounts for the actual cross-section of the structure and the existing surrounding conditions. Mass and stiffness parameters are extracted from the finite element model of the primary structure. Performance-based optimization of the TMDI and the TID is carried out to find a good trade-off between displacement- and acceleration-response mitigation, with the installation floor being an explicit design variable in addition to frequency and damping ratio. The results corresponding to 24 different wind directions indicate that the best vibration mitigation is achieved with a lower installation floor of the TMDI/TID scheme than the topmost floor. The effects of different parameters of TMD, TMDI and TID on wind-induced displacement and acceleration responses and on the equivalent static wind loads (ESWLs) are comparatively evaluated. It is shown that the optimally designed TMDI/TID can achieve better wind-induced vibration mitigation than the TMD while allocating lower or null attached mass, especially in terms of acceleration response.

Identification of optimum cable vibration absorbers using fixed-sized-inerter layouts

Cables are widely used in cable-stayed bridges and other civil engineering structures, but they often experience large amplitude vibrations due to their low inherent damping. Recent studies have shown that inerter-based vibration absorbers with two or three elements can provide significant performance improvements with very large inertance. Such large inertance leads to difficulties in physical implementation. Meanwhile, alternative inerter-based layouts with more elements could potentially provide better performance with significantly smaller inertance. However, studying these configurations one by one is impractical because the number of possible absorber layouts increases exponentially with the number of elements. This paper, using two types of fixed-sized-inerter (FSI) layouts, presents an efficient and systematic optimum configuration identification methodology. A simplification procedure is also adopted to then simplify the obtained configurations while not compromising the performance gains. Using this approach, it is shown that when the number of elements is increased from three to four, significant enhancement can be obtained even with small inertance values. The proposed approach can also be applied to vibration problems of other mechanical structures and with other performance criteria.

Identification of beneficial mass-included inerter-based vibration suppression configurations

Vibration suppression capabilities of linear passive vibration absorbers, such as traditional tuned mass damper (TMD), and recently proposed inerter-based vibration absorbers, have been studied for multiple mechanical systems. In particular, significant performance advantages have been obtained with a specific device making use of both inerter and mass elements, namely the tuned mass damper inerter (TMDI). However, there are still countless mass-included inerter-based configurations that have not been studied, which can potentially provide more preferred dynamic properties. In this paper, an immittance-function-layout (IFL) is introduced, which can cover a large range of topological connection possibilities with both mass and inerter elements. With the recently proposed structural immittance format, a systematic approach is established to identify the most beneficial IFL type mass-included inerter-based configurations with pre-determined number of each element type. Vibration suppression performance with single-IFL type device and two parallel-connected IFLs (i.e. dual-IFL) type devices are investigated in this paper. Three optimal configurations are identified for mitigating the maximum inter-storey drift of an example 3-storey building model subjected to base excitation. With this 3-storey building model, results show that, for the optimum single-IFL configuration, the performance improvement is 7.3% compared with the optimum TMDI, and with identified beneficial dual-IFL configurations, up to 34.9% performance advantages are obtained. Furthermore, consistent performance gains are shown under real-life earthquake inputs and with a 10-storey building model using identified absorber configurations.