Experimental verification of seismic vibration control of high-rise buildings with friction-type multiple tuned mass dampers

In recent decades, tuned mass damper (TMD) devices have been implemented in numerous high-rise buildings in the world. The vibration of tall buildings caused by natural or man-made dynamic loading poses a challenge. In this study, to ensure structural safety and resident comfort, a friction-type multiple TMD (FT-MTMD) system was investigated and its ability to reduce the seismic response of high-rise buildings was evaluated. The proposed FTMTMD system comprises multiple TMD units in a parallel arrangement and has a greater frequency bandwidth than a conventional TMD system. To address practical issues, a prototype FT-MTMD system was designed and fabricated to control a scale-down test model which has similar fundamental modal properties to a real 36-story building. Because of the nonlinearity of friction, the parameters of the FT-MTMD system were determined using a proposed optimal design method. First, a component test was conducted to ensure that the parameters of the FTMTMD agreed with the designed values. Then, the FT-MTMD was installed on the long-period test model and its control performance was experimentally evaluated. Shaking table test results indicated that the FT-MTMD system favorably reduced the seismic response in the test model, indicating that the proposed optimal design method is reliable. A theoretical structure-MTMD model was also developed to simulate the system response with unsynchronized stick-slip motion of the FT-MTMD system. The predicted system response agreed well with the measured response. In addition, to avoid damage to the FT-MTMD system during a severe earthquake, a failsafe device was employed to lock the TMD when its stroke reached the maximum allowable value.