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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS♦
JUDUL : PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES FOR STRUCTURES.
SESI PENGAJIAN: 2005/2006
Saya NOR ATHIRAH BINTI M.NOR

(HURUF BESAR)
mengaku membenarkan tesis *(PSM/Sarjana/Doktor Falasfah) ini disimpan di Perpustakaan

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:
1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

2. Perustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk tujuan
pengajian sahaja.
3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan tesis ini sebagai bahan pertukaran di antara
institusi pengajian tinggi.
4. **Sila tandakan ( / )
SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau

kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam AKTA
RAHSIA RASMI 1972)
TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh

organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan)
√ TIDAK TERHAD
Disahkan oleh
_______________________________________ _________________________________ __
(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA)
Alamat Tetap:
147, LORONG KERAMAT 7,

PROF. DR. AZLAN BIN ABDUL RAHMAN
KG. DATOK KERAMAT,
54000, KUALA LUMPUR. Nama Penyelia
Tarikh :_26_APRIL 2006 Tarikh:_26_APRIL 2006
CATATAN: * Potong yang tidak berkenaan.

** Jika tesis ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak berkuasa/organisasi
berkenaan dengan menyatakan sekali sebab dan tempoh tesis ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai
SULIT atau TERHAD.
♦
Tesis dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah dan Sarjana secara
penyelidikan, atau disertasi bagi pengajian secara kerja kursus dan penyelidikan, atau
Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM).
“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my
opinion this thesis is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the
award of the degree of Bachelor of Civil Engineering”
Signature : .........................................................
Name of Supervisor : PROF DR AZLAN BIN ABDUL RAHMAN
Date : 26 APRIL 2006
PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES FOR STRUCTURES
NOR ATHIRAH BINTI M.NOR
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

requirement for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Civil Engeineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
APRIL 2006
“I declare that this thesis entitled “Passive Damping Techniques for Structures” is
the result of my own research except as cited in the references.”
Signature : ........................................................
Name : NOR ATHIRAH BINTI M.NOR
Date : 26 APRIL 2006
Alhamdulillah…
Thousands of gratitude to the Almighty Allah for the countless mercy and for giving
me the courage and strength all this while....
To my beloved Abah and Mak, to whom I owe everything...
To my dearest siblings...Along, Angah and Adik,

I have managed through this simply because of your love, care and support..
To my the other half..Amirul Aiman, Amirul Amar and Aina Safiyyah..

I love you very much..
And to my best friends...Azie, Dal, Farah, Fathiyah, Fira, Hanim, Hidayah, Lela,
Zura...
My strength to survive within this 5 years is because of all of you....
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Assalammualaikum w.b.t.
First and foremost, I would like to express my warmest appreciation to my

supervisor, Professor Dr. Azlan bin Abdul Rahman for his guidance, encouragement,
motivation and valuable advice. Without his support, this thesis would not have
been the same as presented here.
I am also very thankful to my friend, Miss Murni Zuriati Mohamed for

giving me brilliant ideas and opinions to improve this thesis. Also a special thankful
to Miss Asdayanti Uzairi for her kindness to lend me her book for almost one
semester. My sincere appreciation also extends to all my collegues and others who
have provided assistance at various occasions.
And finally, my gratitude goes to my parents and family members who have
been most supportive all at times.
ABSTRACT
The applications of passive damping techniques to structures are needed to

control structural vibrations induced by strong winds and earthquakes. Basically, a
passive damper requires no external energy to function. It dissipates vibrations by its
own characteristics, for example, shear deformation of material used in Viscoelastic
Damper (VED), sloshing of liquid at the free surface for Tuned Liquid Damper
(TLD) and mass of the damper. This paper explores several types of passive
damping techniques which include Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD), Tuned Mass
Damper (TMD), Fluid Viscous Damper (FVD), Viscoelastic Damper (VED) and
Friction Damper (FD). The scope of study includes the theoretical basis,
characteristics and their recent applications of these types of dampers to civil
engineering structures. The effectiveness of passive dampers installed is studied
from four case studies which include their applications in Petronas Twin Tower in
Kuala Lumpur, Taipei 101 Tower, Tokyo International Airport Tower and
SEAVANS Building in Japan. Several dynamic studies are reviewed and response of
the structure was observed with and without added damper. Parameter study
indicates that structural response is reduced and the damping ratio also is increased
after mounting the damper. In addition, a general discussion on the selection criteria
of passive damper and design guidelines are also included in this study.
ABSTRAK
Aplikasi terhadap teknik redaman pasif amat diperlukan bertujuan untuk

mengawal getaran struktur kejuruteraan awam yang disebabkan oleh angin dan
gempa bumi. Secara dasarnya, teknik redaman pasif berfungsi tanpa memerlukan
sumber tenaga daripada luar. Ia melesapkan tenaga getaran melalui ciri-ciri yang
terdapat dalam peredam itu sendiri contohnya seperti ubah bentuk ricih bahan yang
digunakan dalam ‛Viscoelastic Damper’ (VED), pergerakan cecair di permukaan
bebas bagi ‛Tuned Liquid Damper’ (TLD) dan jisim peredam bagi ‛Tuned Mass
Damper’ (TMD). Kajian ini mengkaji beberapa jenis teknik redaman pasif
termasuklah ‘Tuned Liquid Damper’ (TLD), ‛Tuned Mass Damper’(TMD), ‛Fluid
Viscous Damper’ (FVD), ‛Viscoelastic Damper’ (VED) dan ‛Friction Damper’ (FD).
Skop kajian ini merangkumi teori-teori teknik redaman pasif secara dasar, cirri-ciri
dan aplikasi-aplikasinya pada masa kini kepada struktur kejuruteraan awam.
Keberkesanan peredam pasif yang dipasang dikaji berdasarkan empat kajian kes
berkaitan yang telah dijalankan sebelum ini. Keempat-empat kajian kes tersebut
merangkumi aplikasinya terhadap Menara Berkembar Petronas di Kuala Lumpur,
Menara Taipei 101 di Taiwan, Menara Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Tokyo dan
bangunan SEAVANS di Jepun. Beberapa kajian dinamik telah dijalankan dan
tindakbalas struktur diperhatikan semasa kehadiran peredam dan tanpa
kehadirannya. Kajian parameter menunjukkan bahawa dengan pemasangan peredam
tindakbalas struktur semakin berkurang manakala nisbah redaman semakin
meningkat. Di samping itu, perbincangan kajian merangkumi kriteria pemilihan
peredam dan beberapa garis panduan mengenai peredam.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION i
TITLE PAGE ii
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
ABSTRACT vi
ABSTRAK vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS viii
LIST OF TABLES xiii
LIST OF FIGURES xv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Foreword 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 Research Objective 3
1.4 Research Scope 4
1.5 Methodology 5
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Theory of Vibration 7
2.2.1 Single Degree of Freedom Motion 7
2.2.2 Free, Natural Vibration of a Single
Degree of Freedom System 8
2.2.3 Viscous Damping 10
2.2.4 Forced System 12
2.2.4.1 Earthquake Forced System 13
2.3 Vibration in Building Structures 14
2.3.1 Sources of Vibration 14
2.3.2 Effects of Vibration in Building Structures 15
2.3.2.1 Wind-Induced Vibration 15
2.3.2.2 Seismic Induced Vibration 17
2.3.2.3 Blast Induced Vibration 21
2.3.2.4 Vibration Induced by Traffic and
Construction Activity 22
2.4 Damping Techniques 23
2.4.1 Passive Damping Techniques 23
2.4.2 Active Damping Techniques 23
CHAPTER 3 PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES FOR

STRUCTURES
3.1 Introduction 24
3.1.1 Fluid Viscous Damper 26
3.1.1.1 Theoretical Basis 26
3.1.1.2 Design Aspects 28
3.1.1.3 Application in Structures 31
3.1.2 Tuned Mass Damper 32
3.1.3 Friction Damper 38
3.1.4 Viscoelastic Damper 40
3.1.5 Tuned Liquid Damper 42
CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDY
4.1 Introduction 46
4.2 Case Study 1 47
4.2.1 Introduction 47
4.2.2 Description of Structure 48
4.2.3 Description of Passive Damper Installed 49
4.2.4 Method of Measurement 51
4.2.4.1 Tower 51
4.2.4.2 Skybrigde 52
4.2.4.3 Pinnacle 54
4.2.5 General Conclusion 55
4.3 Case Study 2 55
4.3.4.1 Wind Factor 57
4.3.4.2 Seismic Factor 59
4.4 Case Study 3 60
4.4.4.1 Wind-Induced Response 65
Observation
4.5 Case Study 4 66
CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1 Introduction 72
5.2 Theoretical Basis of Passive Damper Installed 72
5.3 Types of Passive Dampers and Their Effectiveness 74
5.4 Selection Criteria for Passive Dampers 78
5.5 Technical Issues in the Use of Passive Dampers 80
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Conclusions 82
6.2 Recommendations 83
REFERENCES 85
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE TITLE PAGE
3.1 Applications of Viscous Damping Device to 31

Reduce Wind-Induced Excitation
3.2 Mass support mechanisms and dampers for 33
TMD in Japan (11 buildings)
3.3 Other Configurations of TMDs Currently in 37

Use
3.4 Some application of friction dampers in Japan 39
3.5 Application of VEDs to Reduce Excitation 40
Due to Wind
4.1 Dynamic Studies of the Twin Tower 51
4.2 Results of Dynamic Studies on Tower 52
4.3 Skybridge leg aeroelastic characteristic 54
4.4 Dimensions of vessels and characteristics of 62
the TLD
4.5 Dimension of vessel and characteristic of the 64
TLD
4.6 Observations during evaluation stage 69
5.1 Dimension of vessel and characteristic of the 75
TLD
5.2 Summary of Effectiveness of Passive Damper 77
Installed
5.3 Summary of Dynamic Studies 79
5.4 Summary of some technical issues of 81
installing dampers
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE TITLE PAGE
2.1 Free, Natural vibrations of a mass 8

2.2 Sinusoidal displacement of vibrating mass 9
2.3 Free, damped vibrations of a mass 10
2.4 Overdamped exponential decay 11
2.5 Underdamped exponential decay 12
2.6 Forced single degree of freedom system 12
2.7 Earthquake forcing 13
2.8 Relation of wind velocity to pressure on 16
buildings
2.9 General effects of wind. 17
2.10 Spectrum response graph 18
2.11 Earthquake motion of a tall building. 18
2.12 Seismic response of buildings. 19
2.13 Acapulco building floor plan 20
2.14 Floor plan of El Faro building 21
2.15 El Faro building 21
2.16 Dynamic excitation by vehicles; excitation of 22
a buried substructure and adjacent structure
through pavement and subsoil.
3.1 Categories of Passive Dampers 25
3.2 Four types of passive dampers 26
3.3 Diagram of Fluid Viscous Damper 26
3.4 Component of fluid viscous damper 27
3.5 Spherical Bearing 28
3.6 Mounting Bracket 28
3.7 Diagonal Bracing With Dampers 29
3.8 Detail connection of diagonal bracing with 29
dampers
3.9 Damper in chevron braces 30
3.10 Detail connection of chevron braces 30
3.11 Installation of fluid viscous damper 30
3.12 Tuned Mass Damper as a passive control 32
device
3.13 Installation of tuned mass damper between 34
87th floor and 92nd floor
3.14 Taipei 101 Tower 35
3.15 Spherical Tuned Mass Damper in Taipei 101 35
3.16 View of the damper from the observation 35
deck and restaurant
3.17 Skybridge of Petronas Twin Tower 36
3.18 Bonston’s Hancock Tower 36
3.19 Friction Damper 38
3.20 Components of friction damper 39
3.21 Typical VE damper configuration 40
3.22 Types of Tuned Liquid Damper 42
3.23 Tokyo International Airport Tower 44
3.24 Views of TLD units installed 44
3.25 Cosima Hotel 45
3.26 Sectional view of the LCD-PA concept with 45
detail of period adjusting mechanism
4.1 Typical lower floor plan of Petronas Twin 48
Tower
4.2 Column sizes and concrete grades 48
4.3 Skybridge elevation and details 49
4.4 Tuned Mass Damper 50
4.5 Location of Damper at Pinnacle and its details 50
4.6 Skybridge isometric and leg plan 53
4.7 Skybridge leg mode shapes 53
4.8 Taipei 101 Tower 56
4.9 Taipei 101 Building TMD 57
4.10 Taipei 101 Pinnacle TMDs 57
4.11 Effectiveness of building TMD under 58
moderate winds.
4.12 Fatigue cycle accumulation by Vortex 59
Induced Oscillation
4.13 Tokyo International Airport Tower 61
4.14 Geometry of a vessel (plan view and 62
elevation)
4.15 Arrangement of velocity transducers on the 63
floor of the air –traffic control room
4.16 Free damped oscillation of the tower without 64
TLD
4.17 Free damped oscillation of the tower with 64
TLD
4.18 Variation of the rms acceleration and 66
damping ratio of the tower during one day.
(a) rms acceleration (b) damping ratio
4.19 Layout plan and elevation of SEAVANS with 67
the location of seismometers
4.20 Viscoelastic Damper with BRC material 68
4.21 Load-Displacement Relationship 70
4.22 Response Analysis of the South Tower 70
4.23 Layout of Vibration Control Wall 71
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Foreword
Vibrations in structures which are induced by natural disasters such as

earthquake and hurricanes may cause dynamic responses if they are generated
excessively to the structures. Although structures in Malaysia are not significantly
influenced by earthquake hazards, but sometimes they still have potential to sway
and vibrate during strong winds. For example, Petronas Twin Tower, one of the
high rise buildings in our country that exposed to winds effect. The tsunami tragedy
of 26 December 2004 which was caused by the biggest earthquake for 40 years
which occurred between the Australian plates in the Indian Ocean, that shown that
the effect could reach the Malaysian shores and caused significant damage to our
infrastructures. Although Peninsular Malaysia is position in the stable Sunda Shelf,
with low to moderate seismic activity level, tremors due to Sumatera Earthquake
2002 and 2003 have been reported several times (Azlan Adnan et al, 2003).
Vibrations that generate movement can cause the dynamic responses to structures
and can damage them severely.
So far, our country is lack of exposure about the technology in controlling the
vibration and reducing the dynamic responses of structures. In this century, several
of vibration damping techniques for structures have been developed in several
countries and are proved to be effective in a broad range of areas. Dampers can be
installed in the structural frame of a building to absorb some of the energy going into
the building from shaking ground during earthquake. It will reduce the energy
available for shaking the building so that the building deforms less and the chance of
damage is reduced. Generally, damping techniques are divided into four categories
which are active, semi-active, passive and hybrid. Passive damping devices are
those that have fixed properties and require no energy to function.
Passive damping technique is one of the ways to suppress vibration in

structures. The techniques involved the installation of passive damper into existing
or new structures. Passive damping techniques consist of viscous-elastic dampers,
viscous fluid dampers, friction dampers, metallic dampers, tuned mass dampers, and
tuned liquid dampers. By applying the techniques, the structural vibration energy can
partially absorb and dynamic response of the building structures will be reduced.
The applications of passive damping techniques seem to be important as Malaysia
have the possibility of earthquake disaster to occur in future. In this research, the
theoretical aspect of passive damping techniques will be discussed and its
application structures.
1.2 Problem Statement
Being the nearest country to the Sumatra Island, Malaysia has a potential risk
of exposure to vibrations induced by earthquake. Moreover, tsunami tragedy on 26
December 2004 is still lies in mind. Tsunami takes place when energy from
earthquake jolted the seabed vertically by several metres and then displacing the
water for hundreds of cubic kilometres (BBC News). The geologists predict that
several minor earthquakes will occur and it may be able to affect this country. Due
to this phenomenon, we are facing a serious problem in order to avoid the dynamic
response of our existing buildings especially high rise buildings. This is because we
designed our buildings by not considering the vibration factor that may occur during
earthquake. The vibrations that occur during earthquake disaster can cause structural
damages to buildings. More than that, there is a possibility of total collapse depends
on the level of vibrations that generate from earthquake occurrences. Formerly,
Malaysia is lack of awareness about the importance of this field because we are free
from that disaster. So far, there are less damping techniques applied to buildings in
this country for the purpose to avoid the vibration effects in structures. Nowadays,
one of the methods that rapidly developed is by the application of passive damping
technique.
1.3 Research Objectives
This study seeks to investigate theory and application of passive damping

techniques for building structures. The objectives of the study are as follows:
i. To gain technical knowledge about passive damping techniques that has

been introduced in civil engineering field.
ii. To study the effectiveness of the passive damping techniques in order to
absorb vibration effects in structures.
iii. To identify parameters and make comparison of various passive damping
techniques available.
1.4 Research Scope
Nowadays, many techniques of passive damping are developed to overcome

the problem of vibration effects in building structures. Due to the limitations of
various resources, it will be necessary to confine the research scope to the following
areas in order to achieve the aforementioned research objectives:
i. Theoretical basis of the techniques.

ii. Materials that have been used for these techniques.
iii. The design aspects of the techniques.
iv. Their applications in structures.
v. The effectiveness of various passive damping techniques.
For this project, case studies will be used to asses the response of a structure with
and without the introduction of additional passive damping.
1.5 Methodology
Start
Passive Damping Techniques for
Building Structures
Problem Identification
Objective Definition
Literature Review
Analytical Study
Case Study
Not OK
Need Additional
Results
OK
General Guide
Conclusion
Presentation
Final Report
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
Vibration takes place when a particle moves frequently in a certain period of

time or when a particle oscillates toward static equilibrium position. As we look
around us, we find many examples of objects that vibrate or oscillate such as the
motion of a pendulum, an object suspended on a spring and an object attached on an
elastic rod. Vibration is one of the characteristic that we need to undertake certain
activities in civil engineering fields. For example, the activity of soils compaction
and concrete need a vibrator during the activity. Even though vibration has an
important role in this field, but it may cause a serious problem if it is generated
excessively.
The overstressed that exist during that period can damage a structure such as
the buildings, roads, dams, bridge and pipelines. For this reason, vibration should be
damped out in order to avoid structures from damages, collapse that may cause
danger to human being.
2.2 Theory of Vibration
In general, there are two types of vibration which are free vibration and
forced vibration. Free vibration occurs when there is a movement which caused by
the action of gravity or internal force inherent in the system itself such as the
movement of spring system and pendulum. It is disturbed from its static equilibrium
position and then allowed to vibrate without any external dynamic excitation. While
the forced vibration is caused by a periodic forced that applied to a system. It occurs
under the excitation of external forces. Both free and forced vibration can be divided
into two condition which known as damped vibration and undamped vibration.
Undamped vibration is when the influence of friction is neglected. So, the vibration
will generate continuously with constant amplitude. The vibration which considers
the influence of friction is called damped vibration where the amplitude of vibration
will decrease; finally the system will keep static. Vibration that commonly occurs is
damped vibration. Based on these types and conditions of vibration, they can briefly
classify to:
a) Undamped Free Vibration– Simple Harmonic Motion

b) Undamped Forced Vibration
c) Damped Free Vibration
d) Damped Forced Vibration
2.2.1 Single Degree of Freedom Motion
The structure has hundreds of members, the ground conditions are uncertain
and there are fluctuating wind and wave forces. There are many possible ways in
which the structure may sway, pitch, twist and heave. A system in one degree of
freedom is when there is only one possible direction of movement (Smith, 1988). It
is also considered in one degree of freedom when it is modelled as systems with a
single displacement coordinate (Mario Paz). In contrast, a system with many
degrees of freedom may sway, twist, and heave and so on (Smith, 1988).
2.2.2 Free, Natural Vibration of a Single Degree of Freedom System (N. A.
Alexander, 2005).
A structure is said to be undergoing free vibration when it is disturbed from

its static equilibrium position and then allowed to vibrate without any external
dynamic excitation. ‘Free’ indicates that there are no external forces generating the
vibration apart from at some initial time, to. The term natural implies that no
damping is present.
Figure 2.1: Free, Natural vibrations of a mass
By referring to the figure above, lumped mass, M is given an initial

horizontal displacement, X and velocity X=dx/dt and then is left free to vibrate. The
mass M is supported by a column with flexural stiffness K. By considering
equilibrium the following differential equation is derived:
Mx + Kx = 0 (2.1)
Where x is the deflection of the mass M, x=d2x/dt2 is the acceleration of the mass M
and t is time. The displacement x of the mass M is sinusoidal in time and it exhibits
no decay in amplitude. This is because there is no damping present. Damping is
always present in the real world so that free vibration would always decay and
reduce to zero. The solution of equation 2.1 is given by equation 2.2 where
amplitude, A, and phase angle, Ø are constant. From the solution of the differential
equation:
χ = A sin(ωt + φ )
K
ω= (2.2)
M
ω is the natural frequency of the structure and turns out to be one of the most
important dynamic properties of the structural system.
Figure 2.2: Sinusoidal displacement of vibrating mass
Parameters such as natural period, T (in seconds), natural frequency, f (in

Hertz) an natural circular frequency, ω (in radians/secs) are directly related to each
other:
2π 1 M
T= = = 2π (2.3)
ω f K
2.2.3 Viscous Damping (N. A. Alexander, 2005).
Figure 2.3: Free, damped vibrations of a mass
By introducing a dashpot to the single degree of freedom system as figure 2.3,

damping force will provided to the mass that is proportional to the velocity of mass.
For buildings the main source of damping is resistance to deformation of non-
structural elements. By considering equilibrium the following differential equation
is derived:
Mx + Cx + Kx = 0 (Inertia Force + Damping force + Stiffness Force) (2.4)
Where x = dx/dt and C is known as the damping coefficient. There are three possible
solution dependent of the M, C and K parameters which are overdamping, critical
damping and underdamping.
a. Overdamping
When C2>4MK, the solution will be exponential in nature. C must be large

amount of damping. Normally, this doesn’t happen in engineering structures. The
solution is non-oscillatory.
Figure 2.4: Overdamped exponential decay
b. Critical Damping
Critical damping is when C2=4MK and the solution is also exponential in

nature. It is similar to the overdamped case and also non-oscillatory solution.
c. Underdamping
When C2<4MK, the solution is exponential sinusoid. This solution is the

most important for engineering structures.
Figure 2.5: Underdamped exponential decay
There are two new parameters that results from this solution which are the ratio of
critical damping, γ (no units) and the damped circular frequency, ωd (rad/s). From
the experimental evidence, the critical damping value of most structures is in range
of 0.01-0.2. The typical value is 0.05. The damped period, Td is almost similar to
the natural period, T due to small ratio of critical damping.
2.2.4 Forced System (Dr. N. A. Alexander, 2005).
Figure 2.6: Forced single degree of freedom system

Forced system occurs if a time-varying force F(t) is applied to the mass, M.
Therefore, the equation of motion is extended to
Mχ + Cχ + Kχ = F (t ) (2.5)
2.2.4.1 Earthquake Forced System
Figure 2.7: Earthquake forcing
Figure 2.7 shows a single degree of freedom system subject to an earthquake

ground motion, xg. By considering equilibrium:
M ( χ + χ g ) + Cχ + K χ = 0 (2.6)
By introducing the ratio of critical damping and the natural circular

frequency, this equation becomes
χ + 2γωχ + ω 2 χ = − χ g (2.7)
2.3 Vibration in Buildings Structures
In general, term ‘structure’ is referred to a supporting framework which may

be part of a building, engine, space vehicle and other system (Beards, 1983). A
combination of elements fastened together or a single element is also can be define
as a structure. In civil engineering field, structures consist of buildings, bridges,
roads and highways, towers, damns and some other examples which can be severely
affected by vibrations. Before the Industrial Revolutions, the fabrication of
structures that used heavy timbers, casting and stonework had make them into low
dynamic response due to vibration excitation. It is because the structures had a very
large mass, so that it will increase the inherent damping in the structure itself
(Beards, 1983).
Over the years, the development of light weight materials such as cast iron,
steel and aluminium and also rising knowledge of material properties and structural
loading has caused the reduction of structure’s mass. Through these innovations,
many aspects in structure are improved. This situation, however, will decrease the
function of inherent damping in structures. Inherent damping is damping which
occurs naturally within the structure or its environment (Beards, 1983).
2.3.1 Sources of Vibrations
There are several sources of vibrations and can be classified as internal and
external sources. Vibrations generated inside building such as vibration induced by
human activity and machinery-induced vibration are considered as internal sources.
While externally generated vibration is commonly produced from traffic and
construction activities, winds, blast and earthquakes. The amplitude and frequency
of vibration in a structure is controlled by two factors which are the excitation
applied and the response of the structure to that particular excitation (Beards, 1983).
The excitation that arises from both external and internal sources will cause the
responds of the structure which may contribute to damage on buildings structure if it
is applied excessively.
2.3.2 Effects of Vibration in Building Structures
Each and every types of buildings structure has its own behaviour when
vibrations are applied towards it. It depends on where the sources of vibrations
come from. Usually, vibrations can be divided into two types of damages which are
structural damages and aesthetically damages. Structural damages happen when
vibrations create dynamic stresses and strains which can cause fatigue and failure of
structure and allow corrosion occurs between contacting elements. Besides,
vibrations can damage the function and life of the structures. Local damage to
facades and roof are an example of aesthetic damages.
2.3.2.1 Wind-Induced Vibration
Vibrations that induced by wind are generally associated with tornadoes,

hurricanes, local wind peculiar wind condition and sustained local wind condition
(Ambrose et al. 1980 ). In the other hand, they may strongly affect either
serviceability or the fatigue behaviour and safety of building structures or both,
depending on the type of structure (G.Hirsch et al. 1995). This is because the user
comfort is reduced. Evaluation of wind is concerned to the maximum velocity that is
achieved by it and is measured regularly at a large number of weather situations.
Figure 2.8 shows the correlation between wind velocity and various wind condition.
The curve on the graph is a plot of general equation used to relate wind velocity to
equivalent static pressure on building (Ambrose et al.1980).
Figure 2.8: Relation of wind velocity to pressure on buildings.
The effects of wind on stationary objects such as buildings and winds path
can be generalized as in the following figure. Direct positive pressure is when the
surface of the object facing wind directly and perpendicular to its path. Generally, it
produces the major portion of force on the object. Aerodynamic drag occurs because
the wind does not stop upon striking the object and flows around it so that there is a
drag effect on surfaces that are parallel to the direction of the wind. Suction effect is
when the pressure outward in the surface of the object. The combination of these
effects may produce a net force on the object in the direction of the wind that tends
to move the object along with the wind. For example, harmonic effect which is
referred to the wind that can produce vibration to the object.
Figure 2.9: General effects of wind.
2.3.2.2 Seismic Induced Vibration
Buildings undergoing strong vibrations that produced by earthquake will

suffer with respect to structural damage. During an earthquake, the ground surface
moves in all directions. Structures are routinely designed for vertical gravity loads.
Therefore, the most damaging effects on structures occur when the movement in a
direction parallel to the ground surface. One of the major effects is direct movement
where it is referred to the motion of structure caused by its attachment to the ground.
The force effect caused by this motion is generally directly proportional to the dead
weight of structure and may influence on the dynamic response of the structure. The
major factors that influence on the structure’s response are its fundamental period of
vibration and its efficiency in energy absorption. Figure 2.10 shows a set of curves,
called spectrum curves. It shows a relationship of major concern is that which
occurs between the period of the structure and that of the earthquake. Spectrum
effect can be interpreted that the earthquake has its major direct force effect on
buildings with short periods. This is likely for buildings with stiff lateral resistive
system, such as shear wall, and small buildings (Ambrose et al. 1980).
Figure 2.10: Spectrum response graph.
The curve in figure 2.10 represents the major effect on a structure with no
damping. For large and flexible structures, for example, the high rise buildings, the
effect is shown in figure 2.11. The structure develops a whiplash effect, where
different parts of the structure moving in opposite directions at the same time
(Ambrose et al.1980).
Figure 2.11: Earthquake motion of a tall building.

Figure 2.12: Seismic response of buildings.
Figure 2.12 illustrated the three general cases of structural response. By

referring to spectrum curve, T value in the figure 2.12 is referred to the period value.
When T value is lower than 0.3, building is considered as rigid structure and the
response is virtually no flexing. As the building period increases, the behaviour
approaches is as shown in figure 2.11.
There are many cases of structural damages that had been observed during
the earthquake event all over the world. According to a study that had been carried
out, several numbers of reinforced concrete buildings was affected by the natural
disaster, earthquake during Long Beach Quake 1933. An assessment was made and
it was noticed that the column had suffered severe injury. The slander beam had
cracked particularly where they meet the corner column. For example, the
California Garage, three-story concrete beam-and-joist structures also illustrate
similar effect. Nearly all the column in each story showed evidence of varying
degree of flexural failure. In the other hand, the effect on The Ambassador
Apartment, which is four and five stories buildings with beam-and-joist framing and
brick curtain wall, is noticed with horizontal tension cracks in many of the interior
column that were exposed. The building also has an elevator pent house, where all
four columns are failed top and bottom in tension with uninjured beams (Booth et al.
1991).
Besides that, the Luzon, Philippines Earthquake of 16 July 1990 caused
several structural damages to at least 20 modern engineered buildings in Baguio. A
number of medium-rise modern reinforced concrete buildings were resulted to
collapse which most of them was founded built on weathered rock. However, the
low-rise buildings are lower affected by the disaster.
The other case of structural damage of buildings was studied during Chile
Earthquake 1985. According to the writer, most of the buildings in the coastal city
of Vina del Mar, Chile were designed with structural wall to provide lateral
resistance (Riddell, 1992). Acapulco building was one of the buildings that effected
by vibration that generated during earthquake. It was a 15-story, one-basement
building which constructed in 1962-1964. Figure 2.13 illustrated the plan view of
the building and the arrangement of structural walls system. During earthquake,
walls and slab-wall connections maintained extensive cracking. Besides, the wall
‘M’ was poorly damaged since there was crushing of the concrete and yielding and
buckling of the main reinforcement. Through observations, it was noticed that
slippage occurred along the construction joints between the ground and fourth levels
(Riddell, 1992).
Figure 2.13: Acapulco building floor plan.

While the Chile Earthquake event, El Faro building, an eight-story one
basement building built in 1981 was severely damage by that disaster. Based on its
typical floor plan as shown in figure 2.14, the wall along axis M and D collapsed.
Damages were concentrated in the first story of the building so that the building lean
sharply as figure 2.15 (Riddell, 1992). The behaviour of El Faro building was
investigate and thus found that the building collapsed after the longitudal
reinforcement fracture in wall ‘M’ in the first story (Wood et al.1991)
Figure 2.14: Floor plan of El Faro building Figure 2.15: El Faro building
2.3.2.3 Blast Induced Vibration
Blast vibration also may affect buildings structures. A study of structural

damage generated by high frequency ground motion such as ground explosions has
been carried out. Through the study, it is found that the high vibration mode
accounts for concrete damages such as crushing and fracturing of concrete. Besides,
there are three levels of observed cracking response based on experimental blast
vibration. They are threshold cracking, major cracking and minor cracking. All
these damages are transmitted to column and beams of the buildings structure which
is due to the large amount of mass (Edward et al. 1960).
2.3.2.4 Vibration Induced by Traffic and Construction Activities
The affect of vibrations also may come from traffic and construction
activities, as an example, a vehicle moves along the road apply dynamic forces
directly to the pavement. The forces are sent out to the sub-structure through the
pavement and subsoil. Vibrations also transmitted to the adjacent structures such as
high rise buildings and towers so that it will affect the serviceability of structures.
Usually, there are rarely cause of structural safety occur by this activities (Ammann
et al.1995)
Figure 2.16: Dynamic excitation by vehicles; excitation of a buried substructure and

adjacent structure through pavement and subsoil.
2.4 Damping Techniques
There are several techniques that have been applied in civil engineering field
in order to reduce the vibration induced by strong winds or earthquake. It can be
categorized into passive control system, active control system and also semi active
system.
2.4.1 Passive Damping Techniques
The most popular concept of energy dissipation system is passive damping

techniques which dissipate energy without any external energy to function. Passive
damping control system applies the concept of secondary inertial mass system
(indirect energy dissipation system) and also direct energy dissipation system.
Passive damping with indirect energy dissipation systems imparts indirect damping
to the structure by modifying its frequency response (Kareem 1983). In the other
hand, direct energy dissipation systems are efficient under large amplitude event, for
example an earthquake.
2.4.2 Active Damping Techniques
In general, active damping device reduce structural response by means of an

external energy (Soong, 1990; Suhardjo et al. 1992). Active mass system, higher
control force is required in order to dissipate energy from vibration. Their
configurations consist of sensors to detect excitation during an earthquake event and
the response of structures. The sensors will then connected to computer controller
and send to control actuator. Control actuator usually powered by external sources to
produce the required forces.
CHAPTER 3
PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES

FOR STRUCTURES
3.1 Introduction
The usage of passive damping techniques are newly needed in several

countries as they have many advantages in order to dissipate energy generated due to
seismic excitation and strong winds. In 1950, George Housnen had shown how a
building absorbs the effects of an earthquake as known as hysteretic damping. This
phenomenon requires that such parts of the frame as the beam-to-column to yield.
However, over the last five years, the different kind of seismic excitation that had
occurred made the damping technique as a highly accepted practice.
Advancement technology of passive damping technique is a new innovation

as they are reasonably effective at reducing vibration response in buildings
structures. In general, passive damping techniques are referred to a way to suppress
vibration without a presence of external energy to function. The usages of passive
dampers are one of the damping techniques. Passive dampers are categorized into
two groups depend on the way they damp out vibrations as shown in figure 3.1.
Indirect Energy Dissipation
Passive Dampers
Direct Energy Dissipation
Figure 3.1: Categories of Passive Dampers
Passive dampers with indirect energy dissipation apply the concept of

damped secondary inertial system for example tuned mass damper and tuned liquid
damper. While the direct energy dissipation mechanism such as shearing action of
the material used and flow of viscous fluid through and orifice is referred to
viscoelastic damper, viscous damper and friction damper.
In this chapter, various types of passive damper will be discussed by

reviewing through their theoretical basis, material of construction, design aspect and
their application to buildings structures. Each type of passive dampers has their own
characteristics in order to function as vibration reducer to concrete buildings during
an earthquake event. The installation of passive dampers is usually in the building’s
diagonal bracing system. Beside that, they can be installed between the foundation
and isolation platform in combination with base isolation technology.
Figure 3.2: Four types of passive dampers
3.1.1 Fluid Viscous Damper
Figure 3.3: Diagram of Fluid Viscous Damper
3.1.1.1 Theoretical Basis
The function of fluid viscous damper is basically to dissipate energy that

produce by lateral system of a building structure. As there is movement generated
by vibrations in the building, the piston is forced to move in and out of the cylinder
at a high speed. This mechanism will force the fluid to flow through the orifice in
the piston head and straight away produced friction as damping forces. The damping
forces will change some of the energy that generate from lateral system into heat
energy. This type of damper system has force/velocity relationship which can be
described as:
Fdamper = CV α
Where:
Fdamper = output force (lb)

C = damping constant (lb*sec/in)
V = relative velocity across the damper (in/sec)
α = velocity exponent (0.3 ≤ α ≤ 1.0)
Figure 3.4: Component of fluid viscous damper

3.1.1.2 Design Aspects
Commonly, the cylinder in fluid viscous damper is made from stainless steel
which is filled with silicon oil or similar type of oil as damping fluid. The
characteristics of silicon oil are inert, non-flammable; non toxic besides it is stable
for long period of time. Taylor Device Inc., one of the fluid viscous damper
manufacturers in United States utilizes solid stainless steel piston rods. Besides,
heavy walled external guide sleeve is used to protect the piston rod against bending.
The cylinder, end cap and sleeve are made from alloy steel. They are protected
against corrosion by painting and cadmium plating.
The fluid viscous damper consist of various of components such as piston,

cylinder, piston head, piston rod, control valve, seal retainer, accumulator housing
and so on. A piston is in the form of metal cylinder which contain with damping oil.
At the end of fluid viscous damper, there is a spherical bearing which function to
make sure that the damper is not attach to the structure by allowing rotation in every
direction. Mounting bracket for the damper is as shown in figure 3.4 which is clevis
type of mounting. Threaded stud mounting and base plate mounting are the other
types of mounting available for fluid viscous damper.
Figure 3.5: Spherical Bearing Figure 3.6: Mounting Bracket

The fluid viscous damper can be applied into new buildings and existing
structures. By adding the fluid damper, it will lower structural resonant response to
an earthquake. There is no changes of its natural period but will increased damping
from 5% of critical to between 20% and 30% or even more. The installation of fluid
viscous damper are illustrated in figure 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, and 3.10.
Figure 3.7: Diagonal Bracing with Figure 3.8: Detail connection of

Dampers diagonal bracing with dampers
Connection as shown in figure 3.8 can be designed into new or existing buildings.
Fluid viscous damper is installed diagonally by connecting a beam-column at one
level to the adjacent beam-column joint at the next level. Figure 3.8 shows a detail
formation of the connection.
Figure 3.9: Damper in chevron braces Figure 3.10: Detail connection
chevron braces
Figure 3.9 shows the connection of apex of a chevron to the adjacent beams
by using fluid viscous damper. Generally, there are two dampers connect to each
apex, which is one operating in tension and the other in compression. Figure 3.10
illustrated the detail of this type of connection. Modification of chevron brace also
can be made by applying fluid dampers at both bracing beams which both ends are
spherical bearing and mounting brackets.
Figure 3.11: Installation of fluid viscous damper

3.1.1.3 Application in Structures
The application of viscous damper to San Bernadino County Medical Center,

California in 1993 is purposely to act as an earthquake resistance to that particular
building. The Medical Centre located close to two major fault lines is installed with
a total of 233 fluid viscous dampers. Each of the dampers is 14 feet in length and
approximately 3000 lb in weight. The effectiveness of the damper is proven since it
helps to keep displacements less than 22 inches and extend the effective period to 3.0
second (Asher et al. 1994).
Recently, the usages of viscous damper are gaining rapidly popularity, either
in seismic zone or for the purpose of controlling wind-induced vibrations. Table 3.1
show the applications of this type of damper based on wind induced vibration.
Table 3.1: Applications of Viscous Damping Device to

Reduce Wind-Induced Excitation
3.1.2 Tuned Mass Damper (TMD)
Figure 3.12: Tuned Mass Damper as a passive control device
For tuned mass dampers, they are operated by attaching an inertial mass to
the building location with maximum motion through a spring and damping
mechanism. Usually it is mounted near the top of the building. Normally, viscous
and visco-elastic damper is used together with tuned mass damper to provide the
damping of the system. Damper mass can either move in the horizontal or vertical
plane. For the case of horizontal movement, it is floated in an oil container and
nitrogen gas springs which are used to tuned the damper frequency. In the other
case; vertical plane motion, several types of pendulum action are used. The natural
frequency of tuned mass damper is tuned in resonance with the fundamental mode of
the primary structure, so that a large amount of the structural vibrating energy is
transferred to the tuned mass damper and then dissipated by the damping (Chien
Liang Lee et al., 2004). The damping of tuned mass damper is depends on the size of
the damper and the stroke distance. Stroke distance is referred to the travel distance
of the mass. In addition, the mass ratio between the damper and building in the mode
of interest also influence the damping of tuned mass damper.
In design aspect, traditional tuned mass damper need more space to install to
buildings. Therefore, if the space is limited, installation of alternative configuration
are allowed such as multi-stage pendulums, inverted pendulums and system with
mechanically-guided slide tables, hydrostatic bearings and laminated rubber
bearings. The stiffness for the tuning of tuned mass dampers is provided by coil
springs or variables stiffness pneumatic springs. The effectiveness of this system
may improve by using multiple-damper configuration (MDCs) which consist of
several dampers placed in parallel with distributed natural frequencies around the
control tuning frequency.
Early application of tuned mass damper (TMD) is subjected to wind induced

excitation. However, the interest in using TMD for vibration control under
earthquake load increased as several studies have been carried out to examine their
effectiveness. In Japan, several types of tuned mass dampers have been used by
using oil dampers, viscous and viscoelastic dampers (Tamura,1997). Table 3.2 show
the mass support mechanisms and dampers for tuned mass dampers in Japan
(Kitamura et al. 1995).
Table 3.2: Mass support mechanisms and dampers for TMD in Japan (11 buildings)
Mass supporting mechanism Damper attached to TMD

Pendulum Including Multiple Type 5 46% Oil Dampers 8 73%
Laminated Rubber Bearings 4 36% Visco-elastic Dampers 2 18%
Roller bearing & Coil Springs 2 18% Viscous Dampers 1 9%
Taipei 101 is a new world’s tallest building which the location situated at
Hsin-Yi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building consists of 101 floors with the height
of 509 m (1671 ft). For the purpose to damp out vibrations induced by wind and
earthquake, Taipei 101 had been attached with a steel-tuned mass damper which is
suspended from the 92nd floor. The 800 ton tuned mass damper which considered as
the world’s biggest and heaviest tuned mass damper is placed at 87th floor of the
building. The damper is made from a stack of steel plate and it is connected to the
piston which drives oil through small holes in order to dissipate vibrations. It is
suspended by high-strength cable and the damper’s surface is painted in gold. The
application of tuned mass damper in Taipei 101 will help to protect the mains
structure of the building and avoid metal fatigue and failure. Figure 3.13 show the
installation of tuned mass damper.
Figure 3.13: Installation of tuned mass damper between 87th

floor and 92nd floor
Figure 3.14: Taipei 101 Tower Figure 3.15: Spherical Tuned Mass
Damper in Taipei 101
Figure 3.16: View of the damper from the

observation deck and restaurant
John Hancock Tower (244m) is one of the earliest applications of TMD
which was installed in June 1977. For the purpose of reducing the torsion motion,
two TMDs with the weight of 300 ton were installed at opposite ends of 58th floor.
The TMD consist of a steel box (5.2 x 5.2 x 1 m) filled with lead. It is attached to the
frame of the building by shock absorber. The system can reduce buildings response
at about 50% (Wiesner, 1979).
Figure 3.17: Skybridge of Petronas Figure 3.18: Bonston’s Hancock Tower

Twin Tower
Besides, the legs of 154.8 m Sky bridge of Petronas Twin Tower in Malaysia
is also apply tuned mass damper where the lightweight cylindrical legs of the sky
bridge were highly sensitive to vortex excitation. By adding tuned mass damper to
the structure, it gives a total damping of 0.5% and it is adequate to prevent vortex
shedding and fatigue damage.
A pair of TMD is also applied to 278m New York Citicorp Building. With
the size of damper, 9.14 x .14 x 3.05 m, the system consist of 410 ton concrete block
with two spring damping mechanism. They were installed in 63rd floor, one for north-
south motion and the other one is for east west motion. According to Wiesner, 1979,
the system has reduced 40% wind-induced response in both directions of the Citicorp
Building.
Table 3.3: Other Configurations of TMDs Currently in Use

3.1.3 Friction Damper
Figure 3.19: Friction Damper
The term ‘friction’ is clearly explained how they operate to reduce earthquake
or wind energy. For example, as the ground moves and released energy during
earthquake event, the building structure will induced by seismic load. The members
in friction dampers such as steel plate will slide each other under damping force
which is friction force. Therefore, the energy will dissipate through friction-
generated heat energy. By adding friction dampers to an existing building, the
seismic load carrying capacity of the building structure will increased by means of
reducing the demand of seismic resistance capacity upon the building’s existing load
carrying elements (Cheung et al.,).
Friction dampers consist of coated steel plates that being bolt together with
slotted holes in them. Usually it is a part of a steel braces system that is mounted
within a column-beam frame. Friction damper system is commonly used in the form
of and X where the damper is located at the middle of the X. Besides, a diagonal
form of friction dampers is installed in side a rectangular column-beam frame where
the damper being along the diagonal. Slip force is designed large enough, thus there
is no sliding against wind forces. It is, however, will slip under large seismic
excitation. The stiffness of this damper will increase until it slips, then it gives
energy dissipation to the structure (Structure Magazine, 2004)
Figure 3.20: Components of friction damper
In steel-framed buildings, there are two types of friction damper commonly

used which is rigid frame friction dampers and braced frame friction dampers. Rigid
frame system provide real plastic hinges while braced frame friction used diagonal
bracing which slips at a predetermined stress value.
Table 3.4: Some application of friction dampers in Japan

3.1.4 Viscoelastic Damper (VED)
Viscoelastic dampers dissipate energy by shear deformation of viscoelastic

material that readily installed in the system. The characteristic of this type of damper
is temperature sensitive so that it could be some problem using VED for external
fittings. Figure 3.21 show a typical VED which consist of viscoelastic layer bonded
with steel plate. When the structure vibrates, there will be relative motion between
the steel flange and the centre plate, thus energy will be dissipated
In design aspect, it consists of steel plates and viscoelastic material that install
as part of a diagonal brace. Viscoelastic damper material is basically used
polymeric/rubber like which may deformed in shear and particularly effective in high
frequency range and low vibration level against strong winds and moderate
earthquake (Maebayashi et al. 1993). Viscoelastic material that commonly used are
copolymer or glassy substances.
Figure 3.21: Typical VE damper configuration

Situated at a high seismic risk region, Santa Clara County building in San
Jose is mounted with viscoelastic dampers. It is 13 storey building. By adding two
dampers per building face per floor level, the equivalent damping in the fundamental
mode of building increased about 17%.
The application of viscoelastic dampers are widely used in several countries.

In New York, four buildings have been installed with this type of damper to
minimize the wind-induced vibrations. Table 3.5 below shows the application of
viscoelastic dampers.
Table 3.5: Application of VEDs to Reduce Excitation Due to Wind

3.1.5 Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD)
Tuned Liquid Dampers

(TLDs)
Tuned Liquid Column

Tuned Sloshing Dampers
Dampers (TLCDs)
Deep Shallow
Figure 3.22: Types of Tuned Liquid Damper
By referring to the figure 3.22, tuned liquid dampers include both Tuned
Sloshing Dampers (TSDs) and Tuned Liquid Column Dampers (TLCDs) which are
well-known in the form of inertial damping device (Fujino et al. 1992, Kareem 1990,
Kareem 1993, Kareem & Fognarelli 1994, Sakai et al. 1989). It is first apply to
ground structures in 1980’s (Modi & Welt, 1987, Tamura et al. 1988). Tuned liquid
damper is operated by attaching one or multiple liquid fill tanks to the structures.
The basic principal of tuned liquid damper is depends on the sloshing wave that
develop at the free surface of the fluid to dissipate a portion of the dynamic energy.
Currently, tuned liquid damper is suggested for existing water tanks on

the building without affecting the functional use of water supply tanks. The natural
frequency of the system can be adjusted by the depth of water and the dimension of
the container by considering the practical limitation on water depth.
Tuned sloshing damper is design for both shallow and deep water
configuration. It is functioned by using the amplitude of fluid motion and wave
breaking pattern as additional damping. Energy that dissipates through the viscous
action is referred to shallow water configuration. To increase the sloshing dissipation
energy, PVC floater beads is added to the water. In the other hand, deep water tuned
sloshing dampers need baffle or screens to increase the sloshing fluid.
Both tuned liquid column damper (TLCD) and tuned sloshing damper (TSD)
are designed with different shape. TSD is basically utilizes circular container for the
shallow configuration and rectangular for the deep one. The TLCD typical shape is
U-shaped vessel.
Tokyo International Tower at Haneda is one of the airport towers which are
installed with sloshing dampers in 1993. With the height of 77.6m, the tower is
installed with 1400 vessels containing water, floating particles and preservatives.
The vessels are in circular cylindrical shape with 60 cm diameter and 12.5 cm height
as shown as in figure 3.24. By applying the 22.7 kg tuned sloshing damper, damping
ratio is increased to 1% and 7.6% during storm event (Tamura et al. 1996)
Figure 3.23: Tokyo International Airport Tower
Figure 3.24: Views of TLD units installed
The variety of TLCD technologies is applied to 26 stories Hotel Sofitel in

Tokyo. The system called Tuned Liquid Damper with Period Adjustment
Equipment (LCD-PA) has been installed in the top floor of the building. Through
this application, the motion of liquid in the liquid column damper is controlled. It
consists of a rectangular U-shaped tank, a pair of air rooms and period adjustable
equipment (as shown in figure 3.25). As the tank moved in horizontal direction, the
fluid will travels in vertical and horizontal directions. As this mechanism occurs, the
air will compress in one side while the other side, air pressure is reduced. The
sinusoidal pressure fluctuation will cause the fluid move in the U-shaped tank. It
will effect the movement of the valve and shaft and movement in the springs.
Figure 3.25: Cosima Hotel Figure 3.26: Sectional view of the
LCD-PA concept with detail of period
CHAPTER 4
CASE STUDIES
4.1 Introduction
In Malaysia, the applications of passive damper are still not popular

compared to other countries such as Canada, Japan, China and Taiwan. For that
reason, there is a lack of research that has been carried out in order to examine the
effectiveness of the device when it is installed in structures. Therefore, in this
chapter, most of researches used are from other countries. The main purpose is to
analyse best practices and applicability issues in the application of damping
techniques for civil engineering infrastructures.
In this chapter, the main part is to describe the background of the structures
involved and the types of damper used. The characteristics of the structures and the
properties of the passive dampers are identified based on the researches that have
been done. Through the review and analysis, the effectiveness of the installed
damper will be evaluated according to the result that has already been defined. Four
case studies that will be discussed in this chapter are:
1. Damping Techniques in Petronas Twin Tower [ Design of World’s
Tallest Buildings-Petronas Twin Towers at Kuala Lumpur City
Centre, Charles H.Thornton et. al]
2. Tuned Mass Damper in Taipei 101 Building [ Tuned Mass Dampers

Under Excessive Structural Excitation, T.Haskett et. al]
3. Application of Tuned Liquid Damper to Tokyo International Airport,

Japan [Wind-Induced Responses of an Airport Tower-efficiency of
Tuned Liquid Damper, Yukio Tamura et. al]
4. Viscoelastic Damper in SEAVANS Building in Japan [Structural

Control for Seismic Load Using Viscoelastic Dampers, H.Yokota et.
al]
4.2 Case Study 1
4.2.1 Introduction
Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur was designed by Cesar Pelli &
Associates Inc, New Heavan CT and completed in 1997. Several dynamic studies
had been carried out towards the tower, skybridge and pinnacle in order to determine
the needs of damper that should be attach to them. This article was published in the
Journal of the Structural Design of Tall Buildings, Volume 6 (1997) and written by
Charles H. Thornton, Udom Hungspruke and Leonard M.Joseph.
4.2.2 Description of Structure
Situated at the middle of Kuala Lumpur, 451.9 m Petronas Twin Tower is

known as World’s Tallest Building before the erection of Taipei 101 in Taiwan. It is
built in the area of 341760 m2 with 88 storeys in each tower. A skybridge is located
at level 41st & 42nd of the tower with the height of 170m above street level. It is
constructed in 58.4m length. Basically, the construction of the tower combined the
used of steel and concrete where each usage has their own advantages. For example,
by using concrete, it may simplify construction joint, economic and has efficient
placement. While by using steel, it will rapid the erection and provides flexibility in
erection. For this superstructure, 160,000 m3 concrete with various strength up to
grade 80 was used. Besides, 36,910 tonnes of steel were used to construct beams,
trusses and reinforcements.
Figure 4.1: Typical lower floor plan Figure 4.2: Column sizes and concrete
of Petronas Twin Tower grades
4.2.3 Description of Passive Damper Installed
Tuned mass damper (TMD) was installed in the leg of skybridge. Since there
were three types’ modes of vibrations, the mass dampers were tuned within each leg.
So, there will be twelve dampers tuned towards the skybridge legs. The tuned mass
damper consists of a cage of rectangular steel hollow sections with the size that
could be installed in 860 mm diameter of pipe leg. The primary ‘mass’ was
provided by a stack of circular plate with 73 kg weight which can be adjust in
location by nuts on the threaded rod. It was placed at one side of the circular pipe so
that it could be access by a ladder from another side. A pendulum also include as
one of the important component of mass damper to provide stiffness. It was hung at
the proper slope with the length less than 1.7 mm. The tuned mass damper mounted
to leg would increase damping to at least 0.15% of critical. Besides, the pinnacle of
the tower also mounted with damper. A simple impact damper installed at mast of
each tower to resist against wind-induced vibrations. It was a galvanised anchor
chain with 7.3 m length and a mass density of 54 kg/m.
Figure 4.3: Skybridge elevation and details

Figure 4.4: Tuned Mass Damper
Figure 4.5: Location of Damper at Pinnacle and its details

4.2.4 Method of Measurement
Dynamic studies were carried out to obtain the dynamic behaviour of the
structure. The measurements were operated for tower, skybridge and pinnacle.
Table 4.1 simplified the study that had been done:
Table 4.1: Dynamic Studies of the Twin Tower
Structures Dynamic Studies

a. Analytical Modeling
1 Tower b. Force balance wind model
c. Aeroelastic wind model
2 Skybridge
b. Aeroelastic Modeling
3 Pinnacle
4.2.4.1 Tower
The properties of the tower were obtained to examine its dynamic behaviour.
As the height increase, the column and core sizes will decrease so that it gave
uniform density values. The tower’s mass density was 0.3 while lateral ‘first mode’
period in each direction was approximately 9 seconds. Torsional stiffness was
provided by the ring beam frame. Besides the analytical modelling, 1: 1400 forced
balanced wind model had been built in order to determine the along-wind and cross-
wind forcing function of each tower. The wind tunnel test results will be compared
with the recommended wind loads of ANSI/ASCE. An aeroelastic wind model also
conducted with the damping varied between 1 % and 3 % damping. These studies
produce results that may evaluate the needs of supplement damping. Result shows
that:
Table 4.2: Results of Dynamic Studies on Tower
Evaluation Study Results

Force Balance • The value of force balance and
Overall ANSI/ASCE was almost same.
Structural Aeroelastic • Reduced based forces at one tower,
Loading value increased base forces at another tower
(with 2% of • Both towers were design based on the
critical largest force balanced result.
damping)
• Peak acceleration (level 87)
Occupant Balance Force = 17-20 mili-g
Response Test
(with internal • Peak acceleration (level 87)
damping 2% & Aeroelastic Test = 14-18 mili-g
10 year storm)
The guideline value of occupant response for comfortable office occupancy in long-
period building was 21 mili-g. So, we can see from the results above the observed
value from both balance force test and aeroelastic test were adequate. For this
reason, the supplementary damping wasn’t needed for the tower.
4.2.4.2 Skybridge
Vortex-shedding excitation was the main factor that could contribute to the
movement of the skybridge of the tower. The focus of the study was on the leg of
the skybridge. Basically, there were four legs attach to support the skybridge where
each leg was in 1.1 m diameter steel pipe. Based on the analytical study, three
modes represent the largest leg response was obtained which were mode 1, 7 and 9.
Mode 1 interpreted the movement of four legs in the same way, while mode 7 shows
the pairs of legs moving in opposition. The movement of each leg in a pair shows by
mode 9. Besides, the aeroelastic characteristics of the skybridge leg were determine
through an aeroelastic modelling.
Figure 4.6: Skybridge isometric and leg plan
Figure 4.7: Skybridge leg mode shapes

Table 4.3: Skybridge leg aeroelastic characteristic
Mode-shape Wind Cycles in 50 Model Field period Field

Speed y (million) Period (s) (s) internal
(ms -1) damping
1-all together 6 to 8 35 1 0.8 0.5
7-bow-legged 9 to12 20 0.6 0.56 0.25
9-legs twist 12 to 15 7 0.45 0.36 <0.25
The vibration of the structure was low so that million of cycles of

vibration can accumulate at the left of skybridge. This situation can caused fatigue.
In order to reduce this kind of damage, the number of cycle stress should be less.
Therefore, the time needed to for cracked to grow will be extended. The other
alternative was by the reduction of joint stress which will also decrease the structural
response. On the other hand, there was a sudden decrease in response as the
damping increased from 0.15 % to 4 % of critical. It was obtain from an aeroelastic
test. Based on result on table, mode 9 was stiffer than mode 1 and 7. Damping for
mode 1 was about 0.5% while mode 7 had 0.25%. Damping for mode 9 was less
than 0.25.
4.2.4.3 Pinnacle
The pinnacles at the top also have dampeners since this 73.5 m of
stainless steel was influence to vibration modes. It was affected by the vortex
shedding especially to the slender stainless steel mast. As usual, an analytical
modeling was carried out to obtain the behaviour of the mast. A chain impact
damper was installed within each mast to reduce vibrations during strong-wind
condition.
4.2.5 General Conclusion
As a conclusion, from all dynamic studies that have been done for Petronas
Twin Tower, it is proved that by the installation of compact tuned mass dampers
within each pipe length are able to reduce vortex shedding for long fatigue life.
Besides, each pinnacle mast is mounted with Neoprene-sheathed chain for additional
damping. Pipe ring are connected to create inherent damping between them.
4.3 Case Study 2
4.3.1 Introduction
This case study describes the use of Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) installed in
one of the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101. The work was carried out by one of
the specialists in design and construction of damping system for civil structures,
Motioneering Inc. of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The case study is based on an article
written by T.Haskett, B.Breukelman, J.Robinson & J.Kottelenberg.
4.3.2 Description of the Structure
Taipei 101 is a high-rise building that utilized steel super column and
reinforced concrete until level 62. The building consists of commercial, office and
hotel space that cover the area of 412400 m2. It is a stiff structure which involved a
total of 95000 tonnes of high strength steel and 70 mPa high-strength concrete. The
natural vibration period is 6.8 seconds. There is a pinnacle on top of the tower
which makes the height of the tower increased to 508 m.
Figure 4.8: Taipei 101 Tower
Damper system was installed in Taipei 101 at two locations, one was
installed in the building itself while the other one was installed at the pinnacle. Both
were mounted by Tuned Mass Damper (TMD). The application of tuned mass
damper in building was the first damper constructed by considering the architectural
aspect. The building mass damper was exposed for occupant’s observation and
hanging up started from 87th floor to 92nd floor. Basically, tuned mass dampers were
installed to resist vibration induced by typhoon and earthquake, two main hazards
that commonly occur in Taiwan.
Figure 4.9: Taipei 101 Building Figure 4.10: Taipei 101 Pinnacle
TMD TMDs
Building tuned mass damper consist of 660 tonne steel. The damper was made from
a stack of steel plate and was connected to the piston which drives oil through small
holes in order to dissipate vibrations. It was suspended by high-strength cable and
the damper’s surface was painted in gold. The pinnacle tuned mass damper mounted
as shown in figure 4.10. The pinnacle was a slender structure so that, during strong
winds, there would be a number of vibration modes which may cause Vortex
Induced Oscillation. It was also occurs because of the structural discontinuity
between the diameter of pinnacle and width of building.
4.3.4.1 Wind Factor
Based on Taipei local meteorological records, the strongest wind occurs in a

half of a year. During this occurrence, the building TMD reduced the peak
acceleration of the top floor from 7.9 mili-g to 5.0 mili-g (1 mili-g = 1/1000 of
earth’s standard gravity).
Figure 4.11: Effectiveness of building TMD under moderate winds.
From the graph, it was shown that the acceleration increased as the return
period increased. The ISO and Taiwanese criteria value of peak acceleration were
different from the peak acceleration value observed. For pinnacle, Vortex Induced
Oscillation was observed to occur at frequency 0.656 Hz, 0.860 Hz and 1.082 Hz.
The structure was symmetry so that the most nearly value of frequencies for
perpendicular mode shapes were paired together. The modes were 7&8, 10&11,
12&13. In order to reduce the structural response, tuned mass damper was an
effective way to function as a damping system. For mode 10 and 12 that have
frequency 0.86 Hz and 1.082 Hz respectively, two dampers were needed to control
the structure. Both of them were expected could cope various structural frequencies
and control the amplitude in x-direction and y-direction.
Figure 4.12: Fatigue cycle accumulation by Vortex Induced Oscillation
The effects of adding TMD towards the pinnacle were shown by the graph
base dynamic moment versus number of cycles above. It shows that there was no
reduction in number of cycles but the magnitude of bending moments was decreased.
4.3.4.2 Seismic Factor
Seismic design approach for Taipei 101 Tower began with determination of
elastic building response. For the return period 100 years, the responds
characteristics of TMD in buildings were fine. It still could provide damping to
structure in a safe condition. But, difficulty was encountered for seismic event with
the return period 2500 years. It was expected may damage structures and can’t
remain in place.
As a conclusion, the implementation of tuned mass dampers in Taipei 101 is

effectively reduced the effects of wind-induced vibrations on the occupants and also
limit the fatigue damage.
4.4 Case Study 3
4.4.1 Introduction
The study has been carried out to examine the effectiveness of tuned liquid
damper (TLD) mounted on an airport tower in Japan in order to resist wind loads.
The case study is based on the work done by Yukio Tamura and other researchers
including Ryuichi Kohsaka, Osamu Nakamura, Koh-ichi Miyashita and Vinod J.
Modi. It was published on Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial
Aerodynamics in 1996.
An airport tower is a structure that may use damper in order to damp out
vibrations due to wind loading. Tokyo International Airport which is located in the
Tokyo Bay Area consists of airport facilities such as terminals and airport control
tower. The control tower is operated as an air traffic control with a height of 77.6m
and 3.237 x 106 kg mass and considered as a light weight structure. The control
tower is connected with a low rise building by the vertical shafts. However, the
joints were structurally free. In this case, the motion of control tower will not cause
the building behind it to move. So, both of them are dynamically independent. The
dynamic characteristic of the control tower was first derived based on the stiffness of
the main structural system which gave the natural frequencies for both directions. It
was identified that the theoretical value of natural frequencies for x-direction was
0.680Hz while for y-direction the value was 0.741 Hz. The vibration of tower is
dominant in x-direction.
Figure 4.13: Tokyo International Airport Tower
Vibrations induced by wind excitation could be damped out by installing

tuned liquid damper at almost 70% of the height of the tower. Tuned liquid damper
(TLD) installed consists of many vessel filled with water. It was placed in three
layer steel frame shelves located in a room between floor and ceiling of the control
tower. The vessels were piled up six layers on each shelf.
Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD) was design in the shape of circular cylinder
with the dimension of 60 cm diameter and 12.5 m heights. Theoretically, the damper
would absorb vibrations energy by the sloshing motion of water in the vessels. It
was known as kinetic energy. After that, it would be dissipated because of several
factors such as shear of water, friction between water and wall and collision of
floating particles. Eventually, the energy was converted into heat. Basically, the
vessels were made of polyethylene materials. One of the important parameter for
Tuned Liquid Damper was its sloshing frequency which could be tuned by the
adjustment of the amount of water in it. The dimension of vessel and its
characteristics were tabulate in table 4.4.
Table 4.4: Dimensions of vessels and characteristics of the TLD

DXH μ = MD/M1
N fD (Hz) Mw (kg) mF (kg) MD (kg)
(cm x cm) (%)
3.2(x-dir)
60 X 12.5 1404 0.741 14.9 1.2 2.27 X 104
2.0( y-dir)
Where:
D : outer diameter of vessel
fD : sloshing frequency
H : height of vessel
N : number of vessels installed
M1 : fundamental generalized mass
MD : total mass of TLD
Mw : Mass of water contain in a vessel
mF : mass of floating particles contained in a vessel
μ : mass ratio of TLD to the generalized mass of the tower
Figure 4.14: Geometry of a vessel (plan view and elevation)

1404 vessels were installed which gave the total mass of the tower equal to
2.09 x 104. In these cases, the vessels had been manufactured before the tower was
completely built. For that reason, the two main measurements should be made on a
few stages in order to predict an accurate natural frequency of the completed tower.
The measurements were man-power excitation and the usage of micro tremor.
In order to evaluate the efficiency of the Tuned Liquid Damper on the control
tower, the full scale measurements were conducted. The evaluation was made on
structures with and without damper. It was carried out within thirteen month, started
from August 1992 until January 1993 for without TLD and February 1993 until
August 1993 with TLD. The measurement was carried out by using velocity
transducers which were attached on the floor of the control tower. Arrangements of
transducers were shown in figure 4.15. Two transducers were mounted at the centre
of the control room to detect the x-direction and y-direction due to earthquake
motions. Another one was mounted 4m from the centre to measure the torsion
motion. The observations were categorized into two grades, one was parent wind
observation and another one was strong wind observation.
Figure 4.15: Arrangement of velocity transducers on the floor of

the air –traffic control room.
Damped Free Oscillation Test was carried out with and without Tuned Liquid
Damper. The results show that, the average value of damping ratio without the
installation of TLD was lower than the value of damping ratio due to the installation
of TLD in both directions. Since the vibration of the tower was dominant in x-
direction, the value of damping ratio obtained without TLD is 0.84% and increased
about 4.5 times after the TLD was installed. It was increased to 3.9%. The
increment of damping ratio proved that the TLD may resist the effect of wind load.
Table 4.5: Dimension of vessel and characteristic of the TLD
fs (Hz) ζs (%)
Date TLD
x-dir y-dir x-dir y-dir
14 Dec 1992 0.763 0.980 0.86 1.12 Without
24 Dec 1992 0.769 0.980 0.89 1.16 Without
11 Jan 1993 0.769 0.980 0.77 1.45 Without
Average 0.767 0.980 0.84 1.24 Without
8 Mar 1993 0.752 0.971 3.9 1.9 With
Figure 4.16: Free damped oscillation Figure 4.17: Free damped oscillation
of the tower without TLD of the tower with TLD
Figure 4.16 illustrate the motion of the tower without the installation of TLD
with the damping value 0.77%. As the damper installed, the motion of structure
was illustrated in figure 4.17. It was clearly seen that the vibration generated
was damped out by the installation of TLD and will increased the damping ratio
of the airport tower.
4.4.4.1 Wind-Induced Response Observation
a) Without TLD
Random decrement technique (RDT) was used to evaluate the damping ratio
of the tower during strong winds. Both x and y direction were observed and as
expected in design stage, x-direction was always dominant for any wind
direction. Through this observation, natural frequency tends to decrease with
vibration amplitudes. It was also obtained that the damping ratio increased with
the vibration amplitude. These facts suggest that the connection of secondary
components may slip and affect the dynamic characteristic of the tower.
b) With TLD
The observation was made on 29 March 1993 during 24 hours. The

maximum wind speed recorded was 25 m/s. RDT was also used to observe to
evaluate the viscous damping ratio. The value of damping ratio observed before
8 am was almost 1 %. The damping ratio increased as the rms acceleration
exceeded 0.05 cm/s2. For x-direction, the value of damping ratio reach
maximum value of 7.6% before the rms recorded the maximum. After certain
period of time, the value reduced with the decrement of rms acceleration to the
initial value, 1%. Therefore, as the damping ratio in x-direction increased with
amplitude, the effectiveness of TLD was approved. While in the y-direction was
not much affected by the installation of the TLD.
Figure 4.18: Variation of the rms acceleration and damping ratio of the tower
during one day. (a) rms acceleration (b) damping ratio
From the review, the efficiency of TLD is proved since the damping ratio of
the tower increased by its application into Tokyo International Airport Tower. Both
parameters involved; natural frequency and damping ratio are obtained by
conducting certain measurements. The installation of TLD is found to be effective
to reduce vibrations in airport tower.
4.5 Case Study 4
4.5.1 Introduction
A study on viscoelastic damper that installed in SEAVANS Twin Tower in

Japan had been carried out by H.Yokota et. al. It was published in Earthquake
Engineering, Tenth World Conference 1992. The selection of damper and its
effectiveness were evaluated through this study.
The high rise building called SEAVANS in this case study is a twin tower
with 24 storey steel-framed structure which is located in Japan. Comprising of two
similar towers; North-Tower and South-Tower, that have same dimensions and
structure, SEAVANS is installed with a passive energy dissipation system. The
installation of the damper is to reduce the earthquake-induced and wind-induced
vibration. The towers are 98.8m in height with 2730m2 typical floor area of each
storey. In addition, SEAVANS had typical reinforced concrete basement with a
foundation which is supported by the underlying stiff gravel layer. In order to
observe the earthquake motion, a seismometer was arranged at certain location in
that high rise building as shown in figure 4.19.
Figure 4.19: Layout plan and elevation of SEAVANS with the

location of seismometers
The passive damper installed in SEAVANS is a viscoelastic damper. Based

on theory, viscoelastic damper functions together with the viscoelastic material
which is layered alternately with steel sheet. Thus, a multi-layer of viscoelastic
damper is formed as shown in figure 4.20. In this case, the material used is Bitumen
Rubber Compound (BRC). The viscoelastic damper was applied to SEAVANS by
attaching it to two vibration control walls. The walls acted as partition walls near the
elevator core of each floor. The total area of 0.5 cm thickness BRC sheet is 5.2 m2
on each floor. Besides providing large damping force due to shear deformation,
there are several advantages using BRC as viscoelastic material. This is because it
has great adhesive strength so that it could adhere without bonding agent. Moreover,
BRC material was very stable, chemical inert, resistant to environment pollutant and
had good aging properties. BRC material also could be in sheet form with any
thickness. However, the material should first be tested in order to ensure the
effectiveness of BRC as a damping material.
Figure 4.20: Viscoelastic Damper with BRC

material
Three main observations have been carried out during the evaluation stage of
the viscoelastic damper installed in SEAVANS. These observations are described in
the following sections.
Table 4.6: Observations during evaluation stage
No Observations Parameter Obtained
coefficient of equivalent
Material Test
viscous damping
shear stiffness of BRC
confirmed the dynamic
Shaking Table Test properties and damping
1 Vibration Test of
effectiveness of BRC
Model Structures
damping effects
Dynamic Loading dynamic load-
Test displacement
relationship
response acceleration of
2 Response Analysis of the South-Tower the building with and
without VED
First, with the objective to develop viscoelastic damper for SEAVANS,

material test towards BRC was carried out. The coefficient of equivalent viscous
damping and BRC shear stiffness was obtained through this test. Next, a shaking table
test involved 6-storey model frame was constructed by installing viscoelastic damper
to each floor with different area of BRC in each device. This test is carried out to
confirm the dynamic properties and the effectiveness of BRC. Eventually, a half scale
model dynamic loading test was conducted to investigate the damping effect and to
obtain the dynamic load-displacement relationship of the wall model with viscoelastic
damper. Figure 4.21 visualize a stable damping characteristic.
Figure 4.21: Load-Displacement Relationship
Based on model test and material test, viscoelastic damper was designed for
the South Tower of SEAVANS. Next analysis would be an estimation of earthquake
response of the building with and without damper. It had been conducted with basic
dynamic properties data. The analysis was due to the input motion of El Centro
1940. The maximum acceleration was 80 m/s2 and damping factor without damper
was assumed 0.02 of critical damping.
Figure 4.22: Response Analysis of the South Tower

The result shows that by adding dampers, the response acceleration of the
building was approximately 30% smaller than without dampers. The decreasing
value of acceleration indicates that the viscoelastic damper is able to reduce the
motion of building. The viscoelastic damper system was installed in the x-direction
of the South Tower.
Figure 4.23: Layout of Vibration Control Wall
According to both measurements that had been conducted, it is recognized

that the viscoelastic damper system is effective in reducing vibration of a high rise
building induced by earthquake. For further observation of response of SEAVANS
building during earthquake event, several test and evaluation had been made from
time to time.
CHAPTER 5
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1 Introduction
Each case study has its own results that evaluate on the effectiveness using
passive dampers. After reviewing the case studies, this chapter analyses and
summarizes all scope of study that has been stated in the objectives. The analysis
focuses on the case studies and also there will be an addition of information and
guidelines about passive damping techniques.
5.2 Theoretical Basis of Passive Dampers Installed
Based on all four case studies that have been reviewed, there are different
types of passive damper installed in structures with different basic mechanisms. It is
observed that some buildings utilize two types of passive damper as a combination.
The passive dampers are installed in the structures to resist wind-induced vibrations
or earthquake-induced vibrations depending on its exposure to such hazards.
Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur used tuned mass damper which
attach to the legs of skybridge. The building itself is exposed to wind-induced
vibration while the legs of skybridge are influence by the vortex shedding.
Therefore, mass damper is attached within it which provides damping by tuning the
73 kg weight of mass. It is tuned to three main important leg vibration modes. A
chain impact damper which is attached to the pinnacle activates damping by the
travel of chain during the effect of vortex shedding.
On the other hand, Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan also utilized tuned mass
damper to resist both typhoon and earthquake induced vibrations. It is also mounted
with mass damper at two locations, at the building and its pinnacle. The stack of
steel plate is connected to the piston which drives oil through small holes to damp
out vibrations.
Another application of passive damper that has been reviewed is Tokyo

International Airport Tower. Tuned liquid damper is attached to the tower in order to
resist wind-induced vibrations. The vibrations are absorbed by the sloshing motion
of water in the vessel. This motion is called kinetic energy. Subsequently, it will be
dissipated by shear of water, friction between water and wall, collision of floating
particles and eventually will be converted into heat.
SEAVANS building in Japan utilizes viscoelastic damper which damps out

vibrations by the shear deformation of the viscous material. The material used in
viscoelastic damper for SEAVANS building is Bitumen Rubber Compound (BRC).
The material has good adhesive strength, stable, chemical inert and resistant to
environment pollutant.
5.3 Types of Passive Dampers and Their Effectiveness
In the first case study, the TMD installed is effective as the response of the
skybridge leg decreases and the value of damping increases. An aeroelastic test
showed sudden decrease in response as damping increased from 0.15% to 0.4%.
The damping is increased to at least 15% of critical due to the installation of TMD in
the legs. The impact damper installed in pinnacles is effective to reduce the vortex
shedding affect.
For the second case study, peak acceleration at the top of the tower is reduced
from 7.9 mili-g to 5.1 mili-g (1mili-g = 1/1000 of earth’s standard gravity) which
indicates that the motion of structure has been reduced by installing TMD. At the
pinnacle, the passive damper had reduced the magnitude of bending moment and
hence reduced the motion of the structure.
Figure 5.1: Effectiveness of building TMD under moderate winds.

Another case study involves an application of tuned liquid damper to Tokyo
International Airport Tower. It is proves to be effective because the installation of
TLD gives the damping ratio increased up to 7.6% rather than without TLD.
Table 5.1: Dimension of vessel and characteristic of the TLD
fs (Hz) ζs (%)
Date TLD
x-dir y-dir x-dir y-dir
14 Dec 1992 0.763 0.980 0.86 1.12 Without
24 Dec 1992 0.769 0.980 0.89 1.16 Without
11 Jan 1993 0.769 0.980 0.77 1.45 Without
Average 0.767 0.980 0.84 1.24 Without
8 Mar 1993 0.752 0.971 3.9 1.9 With
Figure 5.2: Free damped oscillation Figure 5.3: Free damped oscillation
of the tower without TLD of the tower with TLD
From the graph velocity vs. time above, it can observed that the velocity
(motion of structure) is reduced after the installation of tuned liquid damper (TLD).
The damping ratio is also increased from 0.77% to 3.9%. This indicates that the
vibration generated in structure is damped out by the TMD and the motion of the
structure is reduced.
Final case study implements same technique as the third case study in which
the effectiveness of damper installed is observed with and without viscoelastic
damper. The result shows that by adding damper, the value of maximum acceleration
of building is 30% smaller than without adding damper. So, the application of
viscoelastic damper to SEAVANS Twin Tower is effective to reduce motion due to
vibrations.
From the case studies that have been reviewed, it is proved that the
installation of passive damper into structure is effective due to reduce the structural
response and damp out vibrations. The efficiency of passive dampers is confined to
be satisfactory. The summary of effectiveness comparison of passive damper in
structures is shown in table 5.2.
Table 5.2: Summary of Effectiveness of Passive Damper Installed
Case Type of Type of

Effectiveness
Study Structure Damper
a. Reduction in the vortex shedding
PETRONAS Tuned Mass effect
Twin Tower Damper b. Decrease the response of the
Kuala Lumpur (skybridge structure as the damping increases
I (Office, leg) from 0.15% to 0.4%
commercial
building) Impact a. Reduction in vortex shedding
Damper effect
(pinnacle)
a. Reduce the peak acceleration at

Taipei 101 the top occupant floor from
Tuned Mass
Tower, Taiwan 7.9 mili-g to 5.1 mili-g
Damper
II (Commercial, ( 1 mili-g = 1/1000 of earth’s
(both tower
office and hotel standard gravity)
and pinnacle)
space) b.Reduction in the magnitude of
bending moments at pinnacle
a. Increased damping ratio up to

Tokyo
7.6% with the installation of
International Tuned Liquid
III TLD
Airport Tower, Damper
b. Damping ratio less than 1%
Japan
without TLD
a. Maximum acceleration of the

SEAVANS Twin Viscoelastic building with damper is about
IV
Tower, Japan Damper 30% smaller than without
(Office Building) damper.
5.4 Selection Criteria for Passive Dampers
From the table 5.2, we can see that different structures are attached with
different types of dampers. Some of the buildings utilized two types of dampers to
reduce vibrations in buildings. There are several factors that must be considered to
select the most suitable dimensions, sizes and type of damper to be attached to
structures. From this study, three main aspects should be evaluated first before
making the selection of damper. They are:
a) Types of structures
b) Seismic conditions
c) Wind environment
First, the type of structure is identified for example concrete or steel office
and commercial building, airport tower, bridge, stadium and historical building. The
installation of damper in an existing building is more complicated compared to
building under construction. Existing buildings has more aspects to consider for
example limit of space, aesthetic value, and cost and so on.
Subseqently, the structure will be evaluated under seismic or wind conditions

or both, depending on its location. As an example, case study 1 that involved
Petronas Twin Tower located in Malaysia which is free from seismic induced
vibration. The study will consider the conditions under strong wind and vortex
shedding. This situation is different compared to a study on Taipei 101 in Taiwan
which is exposed to typhoon and earthquake induced vibrations. A dynamic study of
the structure is carried out to obtain the dynamic properties of the structure. Through
the dynamic study, we can detect the location of most critical motion that occurs in a
structure and decide the location to install the dampers. Table 5.3 summarized the
dynamic studies in the case studies.
Table 5.3: Summary of Dynamic Studies
Case Type of
Type of Structure Dynamic Studies
Study Damper
Tuned Mass
PETRONAS Twin Damper
b. Aeroelastic Modeling
Tower Kuala Lumpur (skybridge leg)
I (Office, commercial
building)
Impact Damper
(pinnacle)
Taipei 101 Tower, Tuned Mass

Taiwan Damper
II a. Wind Tunnel Test
(Commercial, office (both tower and
and hotel space) pinnacle)
a. Damped Free oscillation

Tokyo International Tuned Liquid Test
III
Airport Tower, Japan Damper b. Wind-Induced Response
With and Without TLD
a. Vibration Test of Model

SEAVAN Twin
Viscoelastic Structures
IV Tower, Japan
Damper b. Response Analysis of
(Office Building)
South Tower
5.5 Technical Issues in the Use of Passive Dampers
During the selection and design of the passive damper, several technical
issues may occur in order to choose the most suitable and economical techniques.
Based on four case studies, there are several difficulties which arised due to certain
factors which are unexpected to occur.
Tuned Mass Damper installed in Taipei 101 is supported by secondary

system called “snubber bearing”. It is a kind of visco-damping devices (VDD)
which function to engage TMD when the amplitudes exceed 1m. The problem is
that, this secondary system of VDD becomes highly nonlinear during the seismic
event in this strength. Besides, for the longer return period, for example 1000 years
and 2500 years, it is a challenge to keep TMD from damaging the structure,
undamaged and remained in place.
During the development of tuned liquid damper in Tokyo International

Airport, the vessels have been manufactured before the completion of the tower. The
dimension has to base on proper data. The other problem is inadequate energy
dissipation of water. By adding floating particles in the vessel, it will enhance the
rate of energy dissipation.
Viscoelastic damper in SEAVANS building used Bitumen Rubber

Compound (BRC) which is quite sensitive to temperature, frequency and strain. To
overcome this kind of problem, several tests had been conducted to predict the
behaviour and characteristic of material at certain temperature, frequency and strain.
All the technical difficulties are summarised in table 5.4.
Table 5.4: Summary of some technical issues of installing dampers
Case Type of
Technical Difficulties
Study Dampers
a) Secondary system of VDD becomes highly
II Tuned Mass nonlinear during the seismic event; it creates
Damper moment on the TMD.
b) Difficulties when contending with 2500 years’
seismic event strength in order to keep TMD from
damaging the structure
c) Space constraint during construction
III Tuned a) Inadequate energy dissipation of water

Liquid b) The vessels are manufactured before the completion
Damper of the tower while its dimension should based on
proper data
IV Viscoelastic a) The material properties of BRC are rather sensitive

Damper to temperature, frequency and strain.
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 CONCLUSIONS
After reviewing several cases studies and relate them with literature review
that had been discussed in chapter two and three, this chapter concludes all the
aspects of study.
Firstly, this study has identified the various passive damping techniques
which function with different ways available for application in the control of
vibration-induced damages in civil engineering structures. Besides the theoretical
basis, the differences between passive damping techniques are related to the material
used, design aspects, components, shapes and functions. However, the common
objective of using passive damper is to reduce vibration energy in structures induced
by seismic event or strong winds so that the structure will deform less.
Secondly, from the case studies, passive damping is found to be an effective

alternative in order to reduce motion of structures due to vibration during strong
winds and earthquake. The effectiveness was indicated by several parameters such
as damping ratio, natural frequency and so on. The dampers can reduce the response
of the structure by increasing the value of damping ratio. The case studies indicated
that structural motion can be reduced by 30-35%.
Furthermore, the case studies have demonstrated the potential applications of

passive dampers in controlling vibration in our structures. Despite our country not
being directly located within earthquake zones, our structures are still exposed to
potential vibration-induced damage due to earthquake motion and strong winds.
Passive damping techniques are effective for reducing motion of structures due to
simplicity of their concept compared to other damping techniques such as hybrid,
active and semi-active damping techniques.
However, a clear technical guideline and selection criteria is required to

assist the engineering community in the local applications of passive damping for
civil engineering infrastructures in our country.
6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
The scope of this study is limited to the passive damping techniques only.
The following are some recommendations or aspects that may improve the results of
the study. Further study can also be carried out on this aspect in the future:
1. Explore an active, semi-active and hybrid damping techniques and their

applications in civil engineering structures. Each and every technique has
their own advantages compared to passive damping techniques.
2. Conduct a study on application of passive dampers in other types of

structures such as bridges, steel buildings and highways.
3. Conduct a study on other techniques to dissipate vibration energy such as
base isolation and their application to structures.
4. Conduct an analysis of dynamic study to evaluate the effectiveness of the

damping techniques.
5. Examine the effectiveness of the passive damping techniques in other

aspects such as economical aspect in term of cost-effectiveness.
REFERENCES
A.A. El Damatty (2002) Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Studies on the
Application of The Liquid Dampers (TLD) to Up-Grade the Seismic Resistance
of Structures. Volume 17.
Ahsan Kareem, Tracy Kijewski, Yukio Tamura. Mitigation of Motion of Tall

Buildings with Specific Examples of Recent Applications: 12-27.
Ahsan Kareem, Yukio Tamura (1994). Damping Systems for Controlling Wind
Induced. Structures Congress XII, April 24-28: Volume 1: 845-849.
Ahsan Kareem (1994). Methods to Control Wind-Induced Building Motions

Structures Congress XII, April 24-28: Volume 1: 654-659.
Andrew S. Whittaker, Ian D.Aiken (1994).Implementation of Passive Energy

Dissipation Systems in the United States. Structures Congress XII, April 24-28,
Volume 2, 1280-1285.
Beards C.F (1983). Structural Vibration Analysis. England. Ellis Horwood Limited.
Charles H.Thornton, Udom Hungspruke and Leonard M.Joseph (1997). The

Structural Design of Tall Buildings, Design of the World’s Tallest Buildings –
Petronas Twin Tower at Kuala Lumpur City Centre. New York, USA. Vol. 6:
245-262
Dr. Michael Constantinou (1994). Application of Fluid Viscous Damper to

Earthquake Resistant Design. Adapted from: National Center for Earthquake
Engineering Research, September 1994: 73-80.
Dr. N. A. Alexander lectures notes, Bristol University, UK.

E.D. Booth, A.M. Chandler, P.K.C Wong and A.W. Coburn (1991). International
Conference on Earthquake, Blast and Impact. The Luzon, Philipines Earthquake
of 16 July 1990: 53-81.
Fertis, Demeter G. Dynamic and Vibration of Structures. Canada. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. (1973)
H.Yokota, M.Saruta, Y.Nakamura, N.Satake & K.Okada. Structural Control for

Seismic Load using Viscoelastic Dampers. Institute of Technology, Shimizu
Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
Hugo Bachmann et al. (1995).Vibration Problems in Structures. Berlin
Internet. http://www.deicon.com
J.W. Smith (1988). Vibration of Structures: Application in Civil Engineering Design.

New York. Chapman and Hall Ltd..
Patrick Crosby, S.E., James Kelly, J.P. Singh (1994). Utilizing Visco-Elastic
Dampers in the Seismic Retrofit of a Thirteen Story Steel Frame Building
Structures Congress XII, April 24-28, Volume 2, 1994: 1286-1291.
Proceedings of the 5th Asia-Pacific Structural Engineering and Construction

Conference (APSEC 2003), 26-28 August 2003, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The
Effect of Sumatra Earthquakes to Peninsular Malaysia: 409-420.
R.Kashani. Tuned Mass Dampers and Vibration Absorbers.
R.Riddell. (1992) Earthquake Engineering, Tenth World Conference. Performance

of Reinforced Concrete Buildings in the 1985 Chili Earthquake.
Rodolfo Antonucci, Francesco Balducci, Maria Gabriella Castellano, Hamid

Ahmadi, Ian Goodchild, Keith Fuller (2001). Proceeding of Fifth World
Congress on Joints, Bearings and Seismic Systems For Concrete Structures.
Viscoelastic Damper for Seismic Protection of Buildings: An Application to an
Existing Building.
T.Haskett, B.Breukelman, J.Robinson, J.Kottelenberg. Tuned Mass Damper Under

Excessive Structural Excitation. Motioneering Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
William T.Thomson (1981). Theory of Vibration with Applications. Englewood

Cliffs. New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Yoshikazu Kitagawa, Mitsumasa Midorikawa (1997). Seismic Isolation and Passive

Response-Control Buildings in Japan: 581-587.
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J.Modi (1996).Wind-Induced Responses of an Airport Tower – Efficiency of
Tuned Liquid Damper. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial
Aerodynamics: 121-131.

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PSZ 19:16 (Pind.

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS♦

JUDUL : PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES FOR STRUCTURES.

SESI PENGAJIAN: 2005/2006

Saya NOR ATHIRAH BINTI M.NOR

mengaku membenarkan tesis *(PSM/Sarjana/Doktor Falasfah) ini disimpan di Perpustakaan

1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau

TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh

147, LORONG KERAMAT 7,

Tarikh :_26_APRIL 2006 Tarikh:_26_APRIL 2006

CATATAN: * Potong yang tidak berkenaan.

NOR ATHIRAH BINTI M.NOR

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

Faculty of Civil Engeineering

To my beloved Abah and Mak, to whom I owe everything...

To my dearest siblings...Along, Angah and Adik,

To my the other half..Amirul Aiman, Amirul Amar and Aina Safiyyah..

First and foremost, I would like to express my warmest appreciation to my

I am also very thankful to my friend, Miss Murni Zuriati Mohamed for

The applications of passive damping techniques to structures are needed to

Aplikasi terhadap teknik redaman pasif amat diperlukan bertujuan untuk

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

CHAPTER 3 PASSIVE DAMPING TECHNIQUES FOR

CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDY

CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

TABLE TITLE PAGE

3.1 Applications of Viscous Damping Device to 31

3.3 Other Configurations of TMDs Currently in 37

FIGURE TITLE PAGE

2.1 Free, Natural vibrations of a mass 8

Vibrations in structures which are induced by natural disasters such as

Passive damping technique is one of the ways to suppress vibration in

1.2 Problem Statement

1.3 Research Objectives

This study seeks to investigate theory and application of passive damping

i. To gain technical knowledge about passive damping techniques that has

Nowadays, many techniques of passive damping are developed to overcome

i. Theoretical basis of the techniques.

Vibration takes place when a particle moves frequently in a certain period of

a) Undamped Free Vibration– Simple Harmonic Motion

2.2.1 Single Degree of Freedom Motion

A structure is said to be undergoing free vibration when it is disturbed from

Figure 2.1: Free, Natural vibrations of a mass

By referring to the figure above, lumped mass, M is given an initial

Figure 2.2: Sinusoidal displacement of vibrating mass

Parameters such as natural period, T (in seconds), natural frequency, f (in

2.2.3 Viscous Damping (N. A. Alexander, 2005).

Figure 2.3: Free, damped vibrations of a mass

By introducing a dashpot to the single degree of freedom system as figure 2.3,

Mx + Cx + Kx = 0 (Inertia Force + Damping force + Stiffness Force) (2.4)

When C2>4MK, the solution will be exponential in nature. C must be large

Figure 2.4: Overdamped exponential decay

Critical damping is when C2=4MK and the solution is also exponential in

When C2<4MK, the solution is exponential sinusoid. This solution is the

2.2.4 Forced System (Dr. N. A. Alexander, 2005).

Figure 2.6: Forced single degree of freedom system

2.2.4.1 Earthquake Forced System

Figure 2.7: Earthquake forcing

Figure 2.7 shows a single degree of freedom system subject to an earthquake

By introducing the ratio of critical damping and the natural circular