Seismic Response Of Adjacent Buildings Research Articles

Dynamic characteristics and seismic response of adjacent buildings linked by discrete dampers

Coupling adjacent buildings using discrete viscoelastic dampers for control of response to low and moderate seismic events is investigated in this paper. The complex modal superposition method is first used to determine dynamic characteristics, mainly modal damping ratio and modal frequency, of damper-linked linear adjacent buildings for practical use. Random seismic response of linear adjacent buildings linked by dampers is then determined by a combination of the complex modal superposition method and the pseudo-excitation method. This combined method can effectively and accurately determine random seismic response of non-classically damped systems in the frequency domain. Parametric studies are finally performed to identify optimal parameters of viscoelastic dampers for achieving the maximum modal damping ratio or the maximum response reduction of adjacent buildings. It is demonstrated that using discrete viscoelastic dampers of proper parameters to link adjacent buildings can reduce random seismic responses significantly. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Seismic Response of Adjacent Buildings with Similar or Different Dynamic Characteristics

The seismic response of adjacent buildings in series, having similar or different dynamic characteristics, is studied using SDOF systems subjected to a base motion. The phase difference (due to travelling seismic waves) in the starting times of excitation of adjacent structures is taken into account, as well as the changes on response quantities due to pounding. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the influence of the main parameters of the problem. The analysis indicated an increased response of the end structures, as well as of the most rigid structures in the series. The critical problem of the required width of seismic joint to minimise the effect of pounding was studied and found to lie well below that recommended by some modern seismic codes.