Optimal design of ADAS damped MDOF structures

Incorporated at various levels of a structural frame, ADAS devices may be used to improve the response of the structure during earthquakes. A design method of a passive control system for multistory structures using optimal Adding Damping And Stiffness (ADAS) dampers is presented. Optimal Control Theory (OCT) is commonly used to obtain the levels of viscous damping at each story. The optimization leads to different levels of damping at each story. Therefore, a solution with viscous dampers is inconvenient and can be expensive. The proposed method enables the use of relatively less expensive optimal ADAS devices dissipating energy which is equivalent to that of viscous dampers. The method is examined in a numerical analysis of a seven-story shear framed structure. Significant improvement was obtained in the behavior of the ADAS damped structure compared to the uncontrolled one.