Seismic Vibration Control of Multiple-Degrees-of-Freedom Steel Structures Through Optimal Impact Mass Dampers

A novel device based on the energy transfer concept, named impact mass damper (IMD), is presented for the mitigation of large structural vibrations due to horizontal seismic excitations. To achieve the optimal performance of the nonlinear device, coupled with different standard steel buildings, an optimization procedure is set both employing the design of experiments (DOEs) method and the Kriging surrogate modelling. Concerning the seismic input, site-specific ground motions and record-to-record variability are taken into account, in agreement with the new European standards. The validated performance of the IMD device demonstrates its benefits, in particular for short-period steel buildings.