Seismic Control and Performance of Passive Hybrid Damper Under Near-Field Earthquakes

In structural engineering aspect, the inherent structural property of the building is not sufficient to control the structural response when it comes to strong earthquakes. The common control strategy used by researchers makes use of energy dissipating devices that absorb the energy imparted to the structure due to earthquake and dissipate the energy by their hysteresis nature. In this study, seismic response of a G + 4 storey building installed with a hybrid damper has been investigated. The hybrid damper system comprises of Viscous Fluid Damper (VFD) and Shape Memory Alloy (SMA). The performance of the building under near-field earthquakes, Tabas, Kobe, and Gebze earthquakes has been evaluated. The dampers have been installed at the base of the superstructure. SMA exhibits a good self-centering capability and is known for its superior super-elasticity properties. It is capable of dissipating energy through its hysteresis nature while maintaining a low level of residual displacement. VFD dissipates energy through the movement of fluid inside it, which minimizes both stress and displacement the structure due to seismic effect. The time history analysis result shows the effectiveness of hybrid damper for controlling the seismic forces acting on the structure. In this present study, there is a significant reduction in base shear and displacement by about 16% and 8% by using Hybrid damper when compared to VFD and SMA dampers. A comparative study is made showing the effect of the Hybrid damper in reducing the seismic responses for the selected near-field earthquakes.