Rheological-dynamical analogy: design of viscoelastic and viscoplastic bar dampers

An analytical procedure is developed for computing the dynamic response of bar dampers using the rheological-dynamical analogy. This method is very efficient when applied to inelastic deformations, because it reduces a material nonlinear problem to a linear dynamical problem, which allows the use of modal analysis. Two types of damping are considered: viscous damping in the case of linear analysis; and hysteretic damping caused by inelastic deformations of the damper. Based on the formulas of the two types of damping, an iterative procedure for the design of viscoelastic and viscoplastic bar dampers is derived.