Hybrid experimental investigation of MR damper controlled tuned mass damper used for structures under earthquakes

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the performances of a semi-active tuned mass damper (STMD) used to reduce the vibrations of buildings under different seismic excitation by the real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) method. MR damper is used as a semi-active control element in the STMD. The RTHS method is an alternative to experimentally studying the semi-active tuned mass dampers (STMD) system. MR damper, which is critically significant for the system, is experimentally installed, while the other parts are designed in numerical simulation and tested simultaneously. The Groundhook control algorithm determines the voltage transmitted to the MR damper. The results show that the control method applied to MR damper-controlled STMD effectively suppresses structural vibrations.