On the dynamics of a very slender building under winds: response reduction using MR dampers with lever mechanism

• Published in: The structural design of tall and special buildings 2011-08, Vol.20 (5), p.539-551
• Main Authors: Aly, Aly Mousaad, Zasso, Alberto, Resta, Ferruccio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dampers; Instructive; Levers; Optimization; Performance enhancement; Reduction; Tall buildings; Vibration
• ISSN: 1541-7794; 1541-7808; 1541-7808
• DOI: 10.1002/tal.647

This paper presents wind‐induced response reduction in a very slender building using magneto‐rheological (MR) dampers with lever mechanism. The building presents a case study of an engineered design that is instructive. The paper shows that shear response and flexural response of tall buildings present two very different cases for vibration suppression. MR dampers are implemented optimally in the building to reduce its response in the lateral directions for both structural safety and occupant comfort concerns. A proposed lever mechanism is used with the dampers to improve their performance. The study shows how a lever mechanism can enable application to flexural response and scenarios where the inter‐story drift is not enough for dampers to work effectively. Furthermore, the decentralized bang‐bang controller produced additional improvement to the performance of the MR dampers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.