The efficiency and robustness of a uni-directional tuned liquid damper and modelling with an equivalent TMD

The current study reports the results of an experimental program conducted on a structure fitted with a liquid damper (TLD) and subjected to harmonic excitation. Screens were placed inside the TLD to achieve the required inherent damping. In the first part of the study, reduced scale models of the building-TLD systems were tested under two levels of excitation. The efficiency of the damper was assessed by evaluating the effective damping provided to the structure and comparing it to the optimum effective damping value, provided by a linear tuned mass damper (TMD). An extensive parametric study was then conducted for one of the three models by varying both the excitation amplitude and the tuning ratio, defined as the ratio of the TLD sloshing frequency to the natural frequency of the structure. The effectiveness and robustness of a TLD with screens were assessed. Results indicate that the TLD can be tuned to achieve a robust performance and that its efficiency is not significantly affected by the level of excitation. Finally, the equivalent amplitude dependent TMD model, developed in the companion paper is validated using the system test results.