Dynamic Response of Structures with TMD

Abstract

A Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) is a device consisting of a mass, a spring and a viscous damper attached to a vibrating main system. The principles of it are classic but applying them has become possible only after the progress of other related fields like electronics, computer science, new materials and new technologies. Nowadays we have successful applications all around the world. Buildings are getting higher and higher and controlling the displacements would have been a lost match for a structural engineer without the devices of structural control on his side.The main types of TMDs are presented in this paper followed by the main concepts and basic equations. The paper is focused on Passive Tuned Mass Dampers, which need no external source of energy to function.A 20-storey reinforced concrete building is analyzed, first without TMD and then with a TMD installed on top. The most important results are obtained by Time History Analysis, although Linear Static Analysis, Modal Analysis and Response Spectrum Analysis have served to determine the basic characteristics of the structure. The Time History Analysis has produced meaningful graphs showing the displacements for different parameters of the TMD.A TMD is known to be more effective in reducing the response of tall buildings under wind action. This paper gives some results for the response of the 20-storey building under seismic action, trying to find cases when the TMD can be effective under such actions. From harmonic time-history functions to completely irregular seismic time-history functions, they have been tested upon the Finite Element Method Structure of the building, giving the possibility to find the most effective cases of using a TMD.