An Experimental Study on the Effects of Different Pendulum Damper Designs on Structural Behavior

Pendulum dampers, which are the subject of this study, are a type of tuned mass damper (TMD). In general, TMDs are effective since they are designed according to the first mode behavior of the buildings. In this study, the effects of pendulum dampers on the structural behavior are investigated by performing vibration experiments on a 3-storey shear frame model with reduced dimensions. Harmonic loads are applied to the test models with and without pendulums on a one-way shaking table. Firstly, experiments without dampers were performed on the selected 3-storey reduced building model, and structural responses were found. The mass of pendulum dampers is chosen to be around 3% of the total mass of the structural model. One of the main aims of this study is to reveal the effects of the different placements of the dampers on the dynamic behavior. Accordingly, a single pendulum is independently placed on the top floor, the second floor, and finally on the first floor. In addition, experiments are carried out by establishing double damper models and then a triple damper model. By creating seven different damper models, the experiments are repeated under harmonic loads with different frequencies. Tests under a harmonic load equal to the first mode frequency of the undamped model reveal the behavior of the models in the resonant state. Experiments show that the pendulums used are highly effective in the resonance state. Some models with more than one damper have also been shown to be effective at reducing dynamic response.