ENHANCED SEISMIC RESISTANCE OF STEEL BUILDINGS USING VISCOUS FLUID DAMPERS

In recent years considerable attention has been paid to research and development of structural control devices with particular emphasis on diminish of wind and seismic response of buildings. In order to control the vibration response of building during seismic events, energy absorbing passive damping devices are most commonly used for energy absorption. The present work deals in reducing the seismic response using fluid viscous dampers connected to Steel Bracing for 12 floors when subjected to a seismic excitation of Bhuj 2001 earthquake ground motion. It is considered a regular steel structure with 3 variants of confirmation: Normal Steel Building, Steel Building with ‘X' Bracing and Steel Building with Dampers. Nonlinear time history analysis has been performed for structures and observed the reduction in seismic response. Parameters studied are roof displacements, storey drifts and base shears. SAP2000 software analysis engine is used as the software tool for the seismic analysis of the structure. Roof displacements decreased highly to an extent of 50% and 38% compared to normal steel building and building with X bracings respectively. The result analysis shows a reduction of 55-60% in base shear and 35-9% in storey drift for structures equipped with fluid viscous when compared to normal steel building and building with X bracings respectively. It expresses that providing bracings with damper in outer frame of structure is more efficient than structure with only dampers.