Multi-modal vibration control of truss bridges with tuned mass dampers under general loading

Applications of tuned mass damper (TMD) systems for bridge structures are observed for mitigation of problem related to excessive vibration induced by either wind loading or vehicle loading, where dominant modes usually in one direction (commonly vertical) are taken into account. Considering modes dominant in one direction may not be considered as a robust practice while any bridge structure is having dominant modes along both the transverse and vertical directions and the same bridge structure is subjected to loading along both the directions. In the present study, an approach for simultaneous control of major horizontal, vertical and torsional modes is presented targeting robust vibration control under general loading condition. A strategy using modal frequency response function (FRF) is proposed based on the traditional mode-wise control approach. The proposed modal FRF based approach is applied to an existing important large truss bridge (Saraighat Bridge) to carry out an analytical design of TMD system considering general loading conditions. The designed TMD system is found to demonstrate good performance under various white-noise based general loading conditions.