Article: Double viscous dampers for seismic response control of tall building Journal: International Journal of Structural Engineering (IJSTRUCTE) 2025 Vol.15 No.3 pp.261 - 298 Abstract: The increasing demand for urban infrastructure has led to the proliferation of tall buildings. Viscous dampers are adopted as passive control system to mitigate structural vibrations due to natural hazards. This study introduces and explores the effectiveness of an innovative passive damper, the single-cylinder double viscous damper (DVD) by modifying conventional viscous damper (CVD) in mitigating the seismic responses. A 25-storey tall reinforced concrete building is 3D modelled and designed in ETABS and uncontrolled responses analysed under six real ground motion. With optimised value of damping coefficient, the controlled responses are derived in MATLAB using state space method with comparison made, both in linear and nonlinear configurations. Two damper arrangement schemes are explored: scheme 1 (all-storey dampers) and the proposed scheme 2 (alternate-storey dampers) in staggered configuration, such that each damper connects non-consecutive storey by skipping immediate storey in between. Effectiveness of each damper configuration is evaluated using derived controllability index (Re). The controlled responses include, top storey displacement, top storey acceleration, storey drift, storey acceleration, base shear and damper forces are compared with uncontrolled one. Numerical comparison shows that DVDs and scheme 2 provide superior seismic response control and offer a more economical solution than CVDs, highlighting the potential of advanced damping technology. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Double viscous dampers for seismic response control of tall building

Authors: Bhargav Shashikant Raval; Snehal Vasantlal Mevada

Addresses: Civil Engineering, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad – 382424, Gujarat, India ' Structural Engineering Department, Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya (Engineering College), Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand – 388120, Gujarat, India

Abstract: The increasing demand for urban infrastructure has led to the proliferation of tall buildings. Viscous dampers are adopted as passive control system to mitigate structural vibrations due to natural hazards. This study introduces and explores the effectiveness of an innovative passive damper, the single-cylinder double viscous damper (DVD) by modifying conventional viscous damper (CVD) in mitigating the seismic responses. A 25-storey tall reinforced concrete building is 3D modelled and designed in ETABS and uncontrolled responses analysed under six real ground motion. With optimised value of damping coefficient, the controlled responses are derived in MATLAB using state space method with comparison made, both in linear and nonlinear configurations. Two damper arrangement schemes are explored: scheme 1 (all-storey dampers) and the proposed scheme 2 (alternate-storey dampers) in staggered configuration, such that each damper connects non-consecutive storey by skipping immediate storey in between. Effectiveness of each damper configuration is evaluated using derived controllability index (R_e). The controlled responses include, top storey displacement, top storey acceleration, storey drift, storey acceleration, base shear and damper forces are compared with uncontrolled one. Numerical comparison shows that DVDs and scheme 2 provide superior seismic response control and offer a more economical solution than CVDs, highlighting the potential of advanced damping technology.

Keywords: seismic response; optimum; double viscous damper; linear and nonlinear viscous damper; state space method; numerical simulation; MATLAB.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2025.148374

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2025 Vol.15 No.3, pp.261 - 298

Received: 08 Feb 2025
Accepted: 26 Jun 2025
Published online: 02 Sep 2025 *

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Title: Double viscous dampers for seismic response control of tall building

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