A STUDY ON APPLICATON OF VISCOELASTIC DAMPERS TO LIGHT-GAGE STEEL FRAMES HAVING TENSION BRACES

Abstract

Passive control of light-gage steel frames is discussed. Disadvantage of the conventional frame having tension braces are explained and the viscoelastic damper is applied instead of the brace. The passive control frame is modeled as spring and damper connected in series. And it is important to increase the spring stiffness for the performance of the passive control. Procedure to decide the damper size is proposed and a frame having the viscoelatic damper is developed. The performance is validated through the dynamic loading test. Shaking table tests are also conducted to three specimens that have the damper and/or the tension brace. Response characteristics of specimens are evaluated using the seismic response spectrum and the time-history analysis.