Passive vibration control of earthquake-excited buildings using multiple upgraded tuned liquid column dampers

Upgraded Tuned Liquid Column Dampers (UTLCD) constituted by a Tuned Liquid Column Damper (TLCD) integrated into an undamped Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) have recently been introduced. A UTLCD is more efficient and straightforward than a traditional TMD in many aspects. In this paper, Multiple Upgraded Tuned Liquid Column Dampers (MUTLCD) are developed to control the vibration of buildings during earthquake loadings. Based on six different MUTLCD configurations proposed, analytical models of the building with each MUTLCD configuration are established. The Balancing Composite Motion Optimization, a potential and novel optimization algorithm, is used to search for the optimal parameters of each MUTLCD configuration based on the El Centro earthquake data. After that, the vibration control effectiveness of each optimal MUTLCD configuration is evaluated, and the best MUTLCD configuration is found. However, different earthquakes are characterized by different properties. Thus, each optimal MUTLCD configuration is also tested for different earthquakes. In addition, the influence of changes in the head-loss coefficient of UTLCDs is investigated for all MUTLCD configurations in various earthquakes. The obtained results in the present work show that most MUTLCD configurations are better than the single UTLCD case. The MUTLCD configuration with two different UTLCDs located on the top floor of the building offers the highest stability and efficiency under various earthquakes as well as changes in the physical properties of the UTLCD. The optimization approach in this study effectively identifies the most suitable MUTLCD configuration for the main structure.