TY - JOUR TI - Effectiveness of tuned mass dampers in mitigating earthquake ground motions in low and medium rise buildings DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3BK19P4 PY - 2014 AB - Tuned mass dampers (TMD’s) are passive energy devices used to reduce undesired vibrations in a number of structures or structural components such as industrial buildings, floor systems, machine foundations and others. There has been few studies on the effectiveness of TMD’s in reducing earthquake effects in low rise and medium rise buildings. This paper investigates the effectiveness of tuned mass dampers on the response of low rise and medium rise buildings under earthquake ground motions. Numerical integration methods were used to solve the systems of coupled equations of motion and a MATLAB code was developed to solve the system of equations of motions. Response parameters include roof displacements, base shears, and inter-story drifts. Results from this analysis showed that the TMD can be effective in reducing drift values and base shears in low and medium rise buildings. The reduction was dependent on the TMD properties and location. The numerical solution can be used to obtain the optimum properties of the dampers. A reduction of about 30% was observed in roof displacements for a mass ratio of 10% of the modal mass. A 25% reduction in base shear was also observed for certain cases despite the overall increase of mass of the system. However, this reduction should be interpreted taking into consideration the magnitude of drifts and base shears to justify the use of TMD’s. Also it should take into account the size of the TMD and the structural design requirements associated with the added TMD. KW - Civil and Environmental Engineering KW - Tuned mass dampers KW - Buildings--Vibration KW - Buildings--Earthquake effects LA - eng ER -