Experimental Validation of Viscoelastic Coupling Dampers for Enhanced Dynamic Performance of High-Rise Buildings

A new damping system, the viscoelastic coupling damper (VCD), has been developed to enhance the wind and seismic performance of coupled shear wall high-rise buildings by adding high damping elements in place of reinforced concrete coupling beams. VCDs replace structural members, such as outriggers or coupling beams, and therefore do not occupy any usable architectural space. When they are properly configured in high-rise buildings, they provide supplemental viscous damping to all lateral modes of vibration, which mitigates building tenant vibration perception problems and reduces both the wind and earthquake response. Experimental results from tests on five small-scale viscoelastic (VE) damper specimens of 5- and 10-mm thicknesses are first presented, followed by the results from six full-scale VCDs representing two alternative configurations. The first was designed for areas where moderate seismic ductility is required, and the second was designed with built-in ductile structural fuses for areas where high seismic ductility is required. The VE material tests exhibited stable hysteretic behavior under the loading conditions that are expected in high-rise buildings under wind and earthquake loading. The full-scale tests validated the overall system performance within a realistic coupled wall configuration, and confirmed the performance of the wall anchorages and all connecting elements as well as the VE material behavior. The full-scale test results also demonstrated the targeted viscoelastic response during wind and low level earthquake loading and the targeted viscoelastic-plastic response for extreme earthquakes, where the response is a combination of the VE response and the nonlinear behavior of the structural fuses.