Earthquake mitigation study on viscoelastic dampers for reinforced concrete structures

Viscoelastic (VE) dampers are one of the most common earthquake mitigation devices. This paper addresses the mathematical modelling of VE dampers and the dynamic analysis of structures with VE dampers. In this paper, the equivalent standard solid model, a new mathematical model of VE dampers, is used to describe the influence of temperature on the energy absorption features of VE dampers. Elastoplastic time field analysis, frequency field analysis and shaking table tests are used to analyze responses of a 1/5-scale three-story reinforced concrete frame structure with and without VE dampers. Comparisons between the numerical and experimental results show that the VE dampers can be modeled by the equivalent standard solid model and that the VE dampers are effective in reducing the seismic responses of structures.