Seismic Vibration Control

Seismic Vibration Control
Nilesh Kala, Rajat Avasthi, Rajat Mangotra
CE629A Earthquake Design

Introduction
Seismic Performance of a structure is defined by its potential to withstand earthquake
damage and still be safely functional. To maintain seismic performance in areas highly prone
to earthquakes (e.g. Zone IV and Zone V in India), the structures must be equipped with
mechanisms that can reduce its response to seismic excitation up to a certain margin.
Seismic Vibration Control, first proposed by Kobori, involves the technologies employed to
mitigate earthquake damage in the structures. Lot of research is being carried out in this
area to achieve higher efficiency in the mechanisms employed.
Motivation
The conventional method of ductile design of structures to reduce earthquake damage is
widely practiced all over the globe. However there are few issues involved with this
approach, most obvious one is that the size of structural member increases as a result of
ductile design and consequently member stiffness also increases thereby attracting larger
earthquake forces. Also, there are some structures in which loss of functionality cannot be
permitted e.g. hospitals, monuments, bridges, defense buildings etc. In such cases it is
required to come up with a solution that altogether prevents the structure from going
excessive vibrations and thus restricting the earthquake damage to a minimum possible
limit.
Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 1 of 24

Avasthi, Rajat Mangotra
Methods of Vibration Control
Various methods adopted for seismic control can be distinguished primarily based on their
source of input energy and whether or not there is a feedback mechanism installed.
Following is a broad classification based on above mentioned criteria-
1. Passive Control Systems

2. Active Control Systems
3. Semi-active Control Systems
4. Hybrid Control Systems
All these methods work on one of the five basic principles of seismic control-
1. Cutting off the input energy from the earthquake ground motion; examples:
(a) Floating structures
(b) Frictional structures
2. Isolating the natural frequencies of the structures from the predominant seismic power
components; examples:
(a) Base-isolated structures
(b) Long period structures
3. Providing nonlinear structural characteristics and establishing a non-stationary state
non-resonant system; examples:
(a) Inelastic structures
(b) Varying stiffness and damping structures
4. Utilizing energy absorption mechanism; examples:

(a) Viscous damper
(b) Viscoelastic damper
(c) Inelastic behavior
5. Supplying control force to suppress the structural response; examples:
(a) Active mass damper
(b) Active tendon
(c) Joint damper
Passive Vibration Control
Passive control encompasses schemes involving energy dissipation by installing various
mechanisms which either increase the overall stiffness or damping of the structure. The
forces required to limit the amplitude of vibrations of the structure are generated as a
counter to earthquake and cannot be manually controlled at the time of event. However, an
operating frequency range can be specified under which their functioning is efficient.
Various methods falling under this category are
1. Seismic Base Isolation

2. Tuned Mass Dampers
3. Un-tuned Viscous Absorbers
Seismic Base Isolation
It is currently one of the most commonly employed control scheme in USA and Japan. The
basic mechanism involves connecting the substructure and super-structure (or pier cap and
deck in case of a bridge) by means of a spring-damper system such that upon ground
motion excitation the super-structure can only undergo side sway motion while behaving

essentially as a rigid body. The base for this system is kept flexible since it will be the part
undergoing high amplitude oscillations during excitation. Flexibility of the base depends on
how high can be the frequency of applied vibrations and also the fundamental frequency of
the structure. More the base flexibility, higher will be the filtering of high frequency
components from the input motion. To prevent the flexible base from deflecting too much
from its central position which can cause malfunctioning of the installed bearings, the use of
dampers is necessary. So the overall transmission of ground motion to the super structure is
reduced while also keeping the bearings in a functional state. The choice of bearing depends
on various factors such as-
Initial stiffness of the bearing material which is required to avoid frequent vibration
from wind and minor seismic events.

Self-Centering capability after deformation.
Vertical and horizontal stiffness of the bearing.
Damping ratio and Hysteretic behavior of bearing material.
Two commonly used bearings in flexible bases are-
1. Rubber bearings
2. Friction bearings
Rubber Bearings - Earlier rubber blocks were used which are unsuitable for earthquake
applications because they provide equal stiffness in all directions due to the weight coming
from the structure. Nowadays, laminated rubber bearings with steel plates are used which
provide flexibility in horizontal direction and high stiffness in vertical direction to prevent
rocking. Different types of rubber bearings are available nowadays with natural rubber
being the most suitable. The damping ratio of natural rubber is quite low in the range of
0.02-0.04 but it can be increased to 0.1-0.2 by the use of compound fillers (e.g. carbon
black). Kelly (2001) showed that for developing countries, steel plates can be replaced by

fiber mesh which is lighter and easy to manufacture. However, lead rubber bearing is the
most commonly used bearing since it has following several advantages-
It is not prone to fatigue.

Its hysteretic behavior is stable.
It is capable of dissipating significant energy in strong ground motions.
Figure 1 Lead Rubber Bearings

Following are some advantages of rubber bearings-
Lowest initial cost and easy to install.

May be combined with sliding steel surfaces to accommodate larger displacements.
Many different options are available according to site and building suitability.
Easy to examine and replace after seismic event (e.g. in bridges).
Following are the drawbacks of rubber bearings-
Not suitable on soft soils where low frequencies dominate.

Near fault sites are also not preferred as they have long period velocity pulses which
impart initial momentum causing large horizontal base displacement. In such cases,
provision of high damping or bilinear force-displacement behavior and a large ratio
of yield force to support weight is desirable.

Rubber bearings have very low resistance to chemical and biological attacks.
These bearings need self-centering after deformation.

Initial stiffness of the bearings should be high enough to avoid frequent vibrations
due to wind and minor seismic events.
Friction Bearings One of the main disadvantages of rubber bearings is that their
efficiency is affected by the frequency content of the ground motion. To overcome this
problem, friction based bearings were introduced. These systems have no inherent natural
period and hence are insensitive to variations in frequency content of the ground motion.
The damping force provided by these bearings depend on the vertical load coming from the
structure and therefore the center of mass and center of resistance coincide. As a
consequence, the torsional effects due to asymmetry of the building are diminished. One
example of friction bearing system is Resilient Friction Bearing (R-FBI). In this system,
concentric layers of Teflon coated friction plates are kept in contact with each other which
dissipate energy and a central core of rubber provides the resilient force there by absorbing
excess energy. Some drawbacks of friction bearings are as follows-
There is an absence of restoring force which ensues large residual displacements.

The sliding surfaces can deteriorate over large span of time and need frequent
inspection.
Material being used in friction bearings is prone to temperature and environmental
changes resulting in a change in friction coefficient and ultimately the amount of
energy dissipation.
Following is a brief list of buildings in USA which are rehabilitated with base isolators,
compiled by Ian G BUCKLE [WCEE, 2000]-

Tuned Mass Dampers
Tuned mass dampers are the application of anti-resonance phenomenon which occurs in
Multi-DoF systems. A secondary mass is attached to the structure and is then tuned to

absorb most of the vibrational energy. The basic principle is that when a mass having
natural frequency equal to that of the forcing frequency is added to an SDoF system, then at
a particular frequency ratio, the vibrations of the primary mass (in our case, structure) are
suppressed and all the energy is absorbed by the secondary mass, this phenomenon is
called anti-resonance. Usually, the mass of secondary system is kept equal to 1% of mass of
the structure. The secondary mass is generally fitted at the top or sometimes near top
stories depending on the feasibility. It is connected to the primary system using a flexible
link essentially involving a spring mechanism and it moves in out of phase motion with the
primary structure. Warburton and his collaborators showed that as long as the ratio w1/w2
0.5, parameters for TMD are optimal, where w1 and w2 denote the first and second
natural frequency of the system. The biggest drawback of this method is that earthquake
excitation occurs over a large range of frequencies, and the system cannot be tuned to
control all the frequencies but only a range of frequencies.
It is not possible to present a comprehensive list of all the buildings with tuned mass
dampers. Some famous structures are listed below-
Building/Project Information Damper Information

Name Location Height Mass (ton) Frequency
Jan Hancock Tower Boston, USA 344 m 2 x 370 0.14 Hz
Citicorp Building New York, USA 279 m 1 x 400 0.15 Hz
Burj al-Arab Dubai, UAE 321 m 11 x 5 0.8-2 Hz
Taipei 101 Taiwan, China 508 m 1 x 660 0.17/0.22Hz
Center-Point Tower Sydney, Australia 305 m 1 x 220 0.10/50 Hz
Crystal Tower Osaka, Japan 240 m 180 + 360 0.24-0.26 Hz
An extensive study of tuned mass damper installed in Taipei 101, Taiwan was carried out by
Alex Y. Tuan and G. Q. Shang [JASE, 2014]. They showed that the acceleration responses in
the along-wind and the across-wind directions were substantially reduced by 31.7% and
33.8%, respectively. For a remote earth quake event, the total acceleration was reduced by
13%.
A currently popular type of tuned mass damper is tuned liquid column damper (TLCD).
These dampers dissipate energy by movement of an oscillatory column of liquid through
orifices provided in cross section of a U-shaped container. Extensive research is going on
regarding optimization of TLCDs for wide frequency range and a lot of ideas are proposed
every year. One such system is Tank Pipe Damper System proposed by A.D. Ghosh, P.C. Saha
and B. Basu (15 WCEE, 2012). It is discussed in detail below:

Tank Pipe Damper System- The damper utilizes the same principle as that of a liquid
column damper however it also includes some properties of a sloshing tank damper. It
Figure 2 Schematic of a Liquid Column Damper

consists of a 3 DoF system with two tanks connected by a cylindrical pipe. Different cross-
sections can be used for connecting pipe but Tait and Deng (2010) studied that horizontal
cylindrical type are most robust. In general a liquid undergoing vibrations has two
components (1) Impulsive component due to rigid motion of the liquid and (2) Convective
component caused by part of the liquid experiencing sloshing motion. Short broad tanks are
preferred because they have higher convective component and lesser impulsive component.
Both the motions can be assumed to be uncoupled since there is a large separation in
frequencies of both motions as shown by Veletsos and Tang (1990).
The studies carried out by Saha and Ghosh shows following distinctions between LCD and
TPD systems-
Responses dominated by a single mode are better controlled by Liquid column
dampers.
LCDs become ineffective when frequency of ground motion exceeds its tuned
frequency whereas Tank Pipe systems being multi-mode systems can be tuned to
multiple frequencies and thus can be used over a wide range of frequencies.
Optimal orifice damping coefficient of TP damper system shows a very little
variation over large range of operating frequencies so it need not be changed once

installed whereas if LCD is installed for a particular frequency its difficult to change
orifice diameter.
TP systems provide additional viscous damping ratio of about 1.1-1.7 % for white
noise base input response as compared to 2.8% provided by LCD.

For band limited white noise input restrained to 0.5-2.5 s period the damping ratio
provided by TP systems increased to 5.7%-6.5% whereas LCD was found to be
useless in such conditions.
Overall Tank-Pipe dampers were found to be a good substitute for liquid column
dampers.
Un-Tuned Viscous Absorber
These device uses the energy dissipation mechanism of dampers to dissipate most of the
vibrational energy of the structure. The added dampers result in an increase in the damping
coefficient of the building as a whole. Various types of dampers are used for this purpose
while a good amount of research is still going on. Some selective damping mechanisms are
discussed below-
1. Metallic Yield Damper These dampers are constructed using a series of steel
plates arranged in parallel forming an hourglass shape. The hourglass shape is
matched to the moment diagram of the damper to maximize uniformity of
plastification. Energy dissipation occurs through flexural yielding deformation of
mild steel plates. These dampers are shown to have stable hysteretic properties
and low fatigue value.

Figure 3 Typical Metallic Yield Damper

2. Friction Dampers - These devices make use of friction brakes to dissipate
energy. They mainly consist of braces attached to the four corners of the frame
with a damper attached at the crossing of the braces. When the frame sways
laterally the friction slider moves thereby dissipating kinetic energy. The use of
friction based dampers was popularized by Pall (1979). Pall friction dampers are
the most commonly used friction dampers. These consist of a series of steel
plates clamped together with high strength steel bolts and are allowed to slip
only at a predetermined load. These dampers offer a lot of advantages over other
damping mechanisms such that-

Retrofitting is easy and cost efficient
Large hysteresis loops with negligible fatigue
High dissipation capacity
No repair needed after earthquakes

Figure 4 Pall friction damper
Following is a list of buildings with Pall friction dampers installed (Pall Avtar,
Pall Rashmi, 1996)-

3. Viscoelastic Dampers These dampers consist of a viscoelastic material
bonded to steel plates. The viscoelastic materials usually used are copolymers or
glassy substances. This material dissipates energy in shear deformation while
the heat generated due to dissipation is released through steel members of the
damper. Behavior of these dampers depends on frequency of vibrations, strain
induced and ambient temperature. Mathematical relationship between shear
and strain can be shown as-

G(w)/w)*(t) __________________________ (1
( t ) =G' ( w ) ( t )+
Where,
w = frequency of vibration
G ' ( w ) = Shear storage modulus of viscoelastic material
(t) = time dependent strain
G"(w) = Shear loss modulus
The ratio of shear loss modulus to shear storage modulus is defined as loss
factor. Loss factor decreases with increase in temperature. Furthermore it can be
shown that-
'
AG ( w )
K (w)=

G (w)/w
And
C ( w )=(A / )
Where,
A = shear area of viscoelastic material
= thickness of viscoelastic material
K(w) = Overall stiffness of damper
C(w) = overall damping of system
It can be clearly seen that both stiffness and damping are a function of shear
modulus, area of cross section and thickness. Nonlinearities are induced in the
material when a large amount of heat is generated after which these linear
relationships fail and the damper becomes inefficient.
4. Viscous Fluid Dampers These dampers are often installed as part of bracing
Figure 5 Typical Configuration of a Visco-Elastic Damper

systems. They dissipate energy through to and fro motion of the viscous liquid
inside a piston. In our mathematical relationships, while defining viscous
damping we often assume the viscous force to be proportional to the velocity of
fluid but in reality even moderate pressure hydraulic flow through a simple
orifice follows a relationship in which differential pressure is proportional to
velocity2. Output force of basic hydraulic dampers can be written as-

a
F ( t )=sgn ( x ( t ) )c|x ( t )|
Most of the fluid dampers used in the buildings today are of low exponent type
where the value of a ranges from 0.3 to 1, with 0.4 - 0.5 being the most popular
choice for seismic inputs.
Active Vibration Control
In this method, a feedback system is used along with an actuator to provide greater control
and effectiveness over a wider range of frequencies. The feedback system consists of
sensors (e.g. accelerometer, displacement, velocity, strain) and a control system (e.g. optimal
control, fuzzy control). Following is a schematic diagram of active control systems-
External Excitation Structure Structural Response
Control Forces
Sensors Sensors
Actuators

Computation of
control forces
Choice of outputs which are to be controlled is decided by the designer based on comfort
(e.g. acceleration) or safety (e.g. stresses). Mathematically active systems can be described
as-
Equation of motion in the absence of external force for an SDoF system-
m x +c x+ kx=0
Where k, m and c are stiffness, mass and damping respectively. Now, in design of passive
controls, we want to increase stiffness and damping as k+k and c+c. Here k and c are
fixed and chosen by the designer. In case of active systems, this k is used as a
proportionality constant which is to be determined. As a result the actuator force becomes
equal to (k)x . First use of active control system was done in Kyobashi Seiwa Building in
Japan. Various advantages of active control systems are-
Wide frequency range

Superior frequency control
Following are some drawbacks of active systems-
Requires external power source to drive actuators which may not be available
during earthquakes
Can destabilize structures
Advanced device control is required which makes them expensive.
Following various types of actuators can be used in an active control system-
1. Electromagnetic Actuator
2. Hydraulic Actuator
3. Pneumatic actuator
The control systems used in the feedback mechanism are governed by control theory. A
method developed in 1980s known as Robust Control is mostly used. This theory employs a
Figure 6 Schematic of a hydraulic actuator

static control scheme assuming that the control parameter is unknown but bounded.
Different types of control systems used to provide feedback to the actuator are-
1. Optimal Control Systems

2. Fuzzy Control Systems
Apart from these
Following are various types of active control systems-
1. Active Control with Tendons

2. Active Mass Dampers
Active Control with Tendons
In this method, active braces controlled with the help of sensors and actuators are
used to provide counterforces to the earthquake.

Figure 7 Model of MDoF system with active tendons

The tendons are installed as braces which are connected to the actuator. Equation of
motion for this system can be written as-

m x +c x+ kx=m x g4 k c u cos
Few tests on these systems were performed by Nigdeli and Boduroglu [IJCESCA,
2010] on a three storey building model with various tendon angles and
configuration. They concluded that for a multiple degree of freedom system,
installing tendons only at first storey is not sufficient. Also if tendons are installed at
the all the stories and connected to a common actuator installed in first storey, the
system causes some side effects because the length of tendons become too much and
the increase in vertical angle of tendons causes forces in columns to increase making
the system impractical. So, the best way is to put both tendons and actuators on all
the floors.
Active Mass Dampers
This system consists of a frame like structure in which an active mass is installed at
the top in the form of a controllable cart. The cart is driven by a motor through a
suitable arrangement and is free to move along the direction of the structure. The
position and acceleration of the mass is located using a sensor. More mass can be
added to the system as per the requirements. The optimization of controller logic
can be done in both frequency as well as time domain. By the optimization method,
the feedback gain as well as the parameters of TMD can be simultaneously adjusted
to increase robustness of the system. Isao Nishimura along with his team carried out
a research indicating various advantages of an active tuned mass damper over a
passive tuned mass damper.
Passive TMD Active TMD

Figure 8 Active vs. Passive TMD schematic diagram
Mass ratio is defined as the ratio of secondary mass to primary mass. The optimum
tuning frequency in the passive systems vary as the inverse of the mass ratio.
Nishimura concluded that using an optimum algorithm along with active mass
dampers results in decrease in control forces and robustness of the structure.

Semi-Active Vibration Control
In this system, the focus is to change the structural properties of the system according to
dynamic response of the structure by using variable stiffness or variable damping. These
systems provide high energy efficiency and sometimes can be even battery powered.
Various types of semi-active control systems are-
1. Electro/Magneto-Rheological Fluid Damper aka Smart Materials These
systems make use of ER or MR materials to generate counter forces. When an
electric current/magnetic field is passed through these materials, their viscosity
changes in turn changing the damping of the system.
Figure 9 Schematic of MR damper
2. Variable Orifice Damper This system incorporates use of a controllable
electro-mechanical variable orifice valve to alter the resistance of flow of a
conventional hydraulic fluid damper.
3. Controllable Friction Damper In these systems force at frictional interface is
Figure 10 Schematic of a variable orifice damper

adjusted by allowing slippage in controllable amount. One example of this type

of control method is Semi-active Electro-Magnetic Friction Damper. The normal
reaction to generate frictional force is provided by attractive electromagnetic
force generated between two outer (insulated) solenoids.
Figure 11 Schematic of an EM friction Damper

Conclusion
While the research in the field of seismic control is enormous, there are still some
limitations in each of the methods as described in this report. Without getting a fully
functional method, we cannot replace ductile design. As a candid remark, we would like to
conclude that, if employed, semi-active control methods are best followed by active control
methods and then passive control methods.

References
1. [A. Makino, J. Imamiya, N. Sahashi], Seismic vibration control of a high-rise R.C.
building by a large tuned mass damper utilizing whole weight of the top floor,
The 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, October 12-17, 2008,
Beijing, China
2. [Xiang Ping, Nishitani Akira], Seismic vibration control of building structures
with multiple tuned mass damper floors integrated, The Journal of the
International Association for Earthquake Engineering, Volume 43, Issue 6,
May 2014, Pages 909925.

3. [Takayoshi Kamada, Takafumi Fujita, Takayoshi Hatayama, Takeo Arikabe,
Nobuyoshi Murai, Satoru Aizawa, and Kohtaro Tohyamax], Active vibration
control of frame structures with smart structures using piezoelectric actuators,
April 1997
4. [Ghosh A.D., Saha P.C., Basu B.], Study of a Tank-Pipe Damper System for Seismic
Vibration Control of Structures, 15 WCEE, 2012, LISBOA

5. [Aguilar Mike, edited by: Lamar Stonecypher], Basics of Seismic Vibration
Control, http://www.brighthubengineering.com/building-construction-
design/44657-basics-of-seismic-vibration-control/, March 2009

6. [G. Song, V. Sethi], Vibration control of civil structures using piezoceramic smart
materials: A review, Engineering Structures 28, 2006.

7. [Heysami Alireza], Types of Dampers and their Seismic Performance During an
Earthquake, CWE 10, April 2015

8. [Necdet TORUNBALCI], Seismic isolation and energy dissipating systems in
earthquake resistant design, 13th WCEE, 2004


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Seismic Vibration Control

Nilesh Kala, Rajat Avasthi, Rajat Mangotra

CE629A Earthquake Design

Seismic Performance of a structure is defined by its potential to withstand earthquake

area to achieve higher efficiency in the mechanisms employed.

The conventional method of ductile design of structures to reduce earthquake damage is

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 1 of 24

Following is a broad classification based on above mentioned criteria-

1. Passive Control Systems

(a) Floating structures

(b) Frictional structures

(a) Base-isolated structures

(b) Long period structures

3. Providing nonlinear structural characteristics and establishing a non-stationary state

non-resonant system; examples:

(a) Inelastic structures

(b) Varying stiffness and damping structures

4. Utilizing energy absorption mechanism; examples:

(b) Viscoelastic damper

(c) Inelastic behavior

5. Supplying control force to suppress the structural response; examples:

(a) Active mass damper

(b) Active tendon

(c) Joint damper

Passive Vibration Control

Passive control encompasses schemes involving energy dissipation by installing various

Various methods falling under this category are

1. Seismic Base Isolation

Seismic Base Isolation

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 3 of 24

on various factors such as-

from wind and minor seismic events.

Two commonly used bearings in flexible bases are-

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 4 of 24

most commonly used bearing since it has following several advantages-

It is not prone to fatigue.

Figure 1 Lead Rubber Bearings

Lowest initial cost and easy to install.

Following are the drawbacks of rubber bearings-

Not suitable on soft soils where low frequencies dominate.

provision of high damping or bilinear force-displacement behavior and a large ratio

of yield force to support weight is desirable.

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 5 of 24

due to wind and minor seismic events.

excess energy. Some drawbacks of friction bearings are as follows-

There is an absence of restoring force which ensues large residual displacements.

changes resulting in a change in friction coefficient and ultimately the amount of

compiled by Ian G BUCKLE [WCEE, 2000]-

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 6 of 24

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 7 of 24

control all the frequencies but only a range of frequencies.

dampers. Some famous structures are listed below-

Building/Project Information Damper Information

These dampers dissipate energy by movement of an oscillatory column of liquid through

orifices provided in cross section of a U-shaped container. Extensive research is going on

and B. Basu (15 WCEE, 2012). It is discussed in detail below:

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 9 of 24

Figure 2 Schematic of a Liquid Column Damper

frequencies of both motions as shown by Veletsos and Tang (1990).

Responses dominated by a single mode are better controlled by Liquid column

Seismic Vibration Control | Nilesh Kala, Rajat Page 10 of 24

noise base input response as compared to 2.8% provided by LCD.

provided by TP systems increased to 5.7%-6.5% whereas LCD was found to be