Seismic response of adjacent buildings connected by nonlinear viscous dampers

Abstract

In this study, the seismic response of a pair of linear multistory building structures linked to one another at floor levels by nonlinear passive devices is comprehensively evaluated. Three possible height-wise distributions of the connectors were analyzed for wide ranges of values of their characteristic constants. Two response quantities were considered: interstory drift and absolute floor acceleration. Results indicate that, while it is possible to reduce both response quantities in both buildings, the level of response reduction generally decreases with decreasing values of damper exponent alpha. The responses of the systems are not sensitive to the height-wise distribution of the connecting dampers. Finally, for low values of total added damping C the response of the system with nonlinear viscous dampers (alpha = 0.80) performs better, however for higher values of added damping the linear viscous damper (alpha = 1.00) performs always better.