SEISMIC PROTECTION OF RC FRAMES USING FRICTION DAMPERS

The increasing infrastructural growth incurs large investments and large section of society being served by them, it is necessary to make them safer against earthquakes and let people feel confident in their structures. The need for structural response control has gained pace in application around the globe. This paper discusses the use and effectiveness of one such device, friction dampers, for response control of structures. In this paper a non-linear time history analysis has been carried out on a 3D model of a 12 story RCC MRF building using 3- directional synthetic accelerogram. Two different cases of building models with and without friction dampers have been analyzed using ETABS. The response of the structure to seismic excitation in terms of absolute maximum displacement and story drift has been compared. Time history response plots have also been compared for various responses viz. roof displacement and acceleration, base shear and story shear forces, along with the various energy components and damping behavior. The results of the time history analysis are in close conformation with previous investigations and represent the effectiveness of dampers in improving the structural response as well as damping demand on structural systems.