Preliminary design of a tmd with a liquid-based damping system for building motion control in wind

Supplementary Damping Systems (SDS), such as tuned mass dampers (TMDs), tuned sloshing dampers (TSDs)- A lso known as tuned liquid dampers (TLDs)- A nd tuned liquid column dampers (TLCDs) have been successfully employed to reduce building motion during wind events by dissipating the vibrational energy of the building. A TMD generally consists of a mass, a stiffness system and a damping system (traditionally linear or nonlinear dashpots) that dissipates energy. Optimal design of the mass, stiffness, and damping system is critical for a TMD to have best performance. Some practical design challenges for a TMD damping system include heat management, space allocation, and frictional forces. While heat and friction are not concerns for a TSD, a TSD usually requires more space than a TMD. A novel type of TMD is investigated, which consists of a TMD with a liquid-based damping system; a TMD using a TSD as its damping system, to integrate the advantages of a TMD and a TSD into one system. A model is developed to investigate the proposed system. Simple expressions for the optimal TSD mass, tuning ratio, and liquid damping ratios are employed to optimize the novel TMD coupled to a single degree of freedom structure. A design example of the TMD with a liquid-based damping system is presented and compared to a conventional TMD design. The proposed TMD with a liquid-based damping system is shown to be an efficient and affordable device for controlling building motion.