Vibration analysis of two buildings linked by Maxwell model-defined fluid dampers

Fluid dampers that operate on the principle of fluid flow through orifices specially shaped and defined by the Maxwell model have found more and more applications in vibration mitigation of buildings and structures. This paper thus presents an accurate and effective procedure for determining dynamic characteristics and seismic response of adjacent buildings linked by fluid dampers. Dynamic characteristics of damper-linked adjacent buildings are obtained by solving the eigenvalue problem for real non-symmetric matrices. Random seismic response of adjacent buildings linked by dampers is determined by a combination of the state-space method and the pseudo-excitation method. Based on a derived formula, a computer program is written and extensive parametric studies are performed to assess the effectiveness of the fluid damper and to identify beneficial damper relaxation time and damping coefficient at zero frequency. It is shown that using the Maxwell model-defined fluid dampers of proper parameters to link adjacent buildings can increase the modal damping ratios and reduce the seismic responses of adjacent buildings significantly. It is also shown that the behaviour of the adjacent buildings linked by the Maxwell model-defined fluid dampers could be the same as that connected by the Voigt model-defined viscoelastic dampers. (C) 2000 Academic Press.