Experimental and seismic performance study of composite window-type viscoelastic dampers

Abstract

Conventional viscoelastic dampers face limitations in installation flexibility, architectural integration, and maintenance costs. To address these challenges, this study introduces a novel Composite Window-type Viscoelastic Damper (CWVED) with a window-integrated design to enhance energy dissipation and structural adaptability. The force–displacement relationship of the CWVED is derived analytically, and its hysteretic energy dissipation capacity is verified through full-scale experimental testing. A calibrated finite element model is used to assess the effects of shear material properties and geometric configurations. Parametric results show that increasing the lead core diameter from 15 mm to 75 mm boosts equivalent stiffness by up to 77.95% and the equivalent damping ratio by over 140%, while adding lead cores from 1 to 5 further increases them by about 65% and 101.8%, respectively. Optimizing shear height from 100 mm to 300 mm can raise stiffness by over 200% with slight reductions in damping, while adjusting aspect ratio, opening ratio, and laminated layers balances stiffness and energy dissipation, with potential stiffness increases of over 300%. Nonlinear time-history analysis confirms that the Four-point Composite Window-type Viscoelastic Damper (FCWVED) significantly reduces inter-story drift and base shear, outperforming the Four-point Window-type Viscoelastic Damper (FWVED) while maintaining structural integrity under seismic loading.