Control of Underground Blast Induced Vibration of Structures Using Fluid Viscous Damper

Blast induced ground vibration, caused due to underground explosions, can cause substantial damage to nearby structures. Here, an investigation is made on the possible reduction of structural response due to such ground vibration by using the Fluid Viscous Damper (FVD). The blast load is modeled as an exponential decay function which is representative of a typical rock blast. The fractional-derivative Maxwell model of the FVD is adopted. The performance of the FVD in mitigating the peak and root mean square (rms) values of the displacement and acceleration of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) structure is studied. Numerical optimization of the design damper parameter is also carried out. The efficacy of the proposed method is examined through different intensities of the input ground acceleration and different structural time periods. It is generally observed that the peak displacement of the structure subjected to underground blast may be effectively reduced by the FVD while some limited amount of reduction in the peak acceleration of the structure may be obtained. The study thereby indicates that the FVD holds potential as a control device for the mitigation of blast induced ground vibration of structures.