Evaluation of steel building structures with inerter-based dampers under seismic loading: Fid-Bau Portal

Evaluation of steel building structures with inerter-based dampers under seismic loading

Talley, Peter C. / Javidialesaadi, Abdollah / Wierschem, Nicholas E. / Denavit, Mark D.

Highlights • Inerter-based dampers were studied for reducing the seismic response of structures. • Material and geometric nonlinearities were included to consider post-yield behavior. • Incremental dynamic analyses were used to study the devices’ effects on structures. • Inerter-based dampers found to be effective even after the initiation of nonlinearity.

Abstract One way of reducing damage to buildings from earthquakes is through the introduction of passive control devices. Many common passive control devices require relatively large masses to be effective, which increases cost and complicates design efforts. Inerter-based dampers are a promising alternative. Inerter-based dampers utilize inerters, mechanical devices that typically use a flywheel with a relatively small mass to provide large effective inertial mass. The evaluation of inerter-based dampers has typically been performed considering simple linear systems of masses and springs that are subjected to harmonic or random loads. While valuable information can be gained from these models, it is unclear if inerter-based dampers are effective at improving the performance of structures subjected to seismic ground motions, especially if the mechanics of the structure is modeled more explicitly and nonlinear behavior, such as yielding, is considered. This paper presents a numerical investigation on the behavior of structures with three different inerter-based dampers subject to seismic ground motions, including the effects of material and geometric nonlinearity. Designs for the three different inerter-based dampers were produced for 3-story and 9-story benchmark steel structures using existing design equations. The structures and devices were modeled in the OpenSees framework. The inerter-based dampers were found to remain effective outside of the elastic range, but at reduced efficiency. The inerter-based dampers were typically much more effective in the 3-story structure. These results show the potential for inerter-based dampers to reduce damage to structures subjected to earthquakes and will encourage the further study of these innovative devices.