Experimental study of earthquake input energy of low-frequency structures equipped with a passive rate-independent damping device

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed the adverse effects of low-frequency components of severe earthquakes in low-frequency structures. The development of displacement control technologies for the seismic protection of low-frequency structures has been identified as a growing challenge in earthquake engineering. Related studies have suggested that rate-independent linear damping (RILD) could be a viable option for reducing excessive displacements in low-frequency structures. However, previous studies on RILD systems have not extensively investigated their input energy during an earthquake. The main objective of this study is to examine the earthquake input energy of low-frequency structures equipped with a passive rate-independent damping device. The differences in the input energy of the linear viscous damping (LVD) and RILD systems are investigated, based on real-time hybrid simulations and frequency-domain analysis.