Optimal design of distributed tuned mass dampers for passive vibration control of structures

The distributed tuned mass damper (DTMD) system consists of multiple tuned mass dampers, which are designed to suppress the undesirable structural vibration over a bandwidth centered at a particular tuned frequency. In this study, an innovative practical approach to optimally design the DTMD system has been proposed. Comparisons were made between the optimal DTMD system, obtained based on the proposed design approach, and those using the conventional design approach. The superior performance and robustness of the optimally designed DTMD system based on the proposed approach compared with that based on the conventional approach have been demonstrated through illustrative examples. It has been shown that the proposed design approach provide a simple, clear, and straightforward way to effectively attain the optimum parameters of the DTMD system. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.