Experimental Study of Seismic Responses of Reinforced Concrete Structures with Viscous Dampers

Experimental Study of Seismic Responses of Reinforced Concrete Structures with Viscous Dampers

The majority of the building structures in Taiwan are moment-resisting reinforced concrete(RC) structures. This is particularly true for the residential complex. In these structures, lightly reinforced exterior and interior reinforced concrete walls often exist and are generally not considered for their contribution to the stiffness and strength of the structures according to the current design practice in Taiwan. In other words, these structures are generally designed as pure moment-resisting frames. As a consequence, it is suspected that the implementation of viscous dampers or other dampers to the structure may not work as effectively as what is expected by the design, due to the fact that a smaller story drift may result from the existence of lightly reinforced concrete walls. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the toggle-brace-damper system, which possesses an amplification mechanism on the axial deformation of viscous dampers, in protecting the RC structures against seismic loading. Shaking table tests of two RC structures with and without the toggle-brace-damper system are conducted and the results are examined. From the test results it is concluded the toggle-brace-damper system is capable of reducing the seismic demand on the RC structures even with the existence of lightly reinforced concrete walls.