Earthquake Response of Mid-rise to High-rise Buildings with Friction Dampers

Earthquake response of mid-rise to high-rise buildings provided with friction dampers is investigated. The steel buildings are modelled as shear-type structures and the investigation involved modelling of the structures of varying heights ranging from five storeys to twenty storeys, in steps of five storeys, subjected to real earthquake ground motions. Three basic types of structures considered in the study are: moment resisting frame (MRF), braced frame (BF), and friction damper frame (FDF). Mathematical modelling of the friction dampers involved simulation of the two distinct phases namely, the stick phase and the slip phase. Dynamic time history analyses are carried out to study the variation of the top floor acceleration, top floor displacement, storey shear, and base-shear. Further, energy plots are obtained to investigate the energy dissipation by the friction dampers. It is seen that substantial earthquake response reduction is achieved with the provision of the friction dampers in the mid-rise and high-rise buildings. The provision of the friction dampers always reduces the base-shear. It is also seen from the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the top floor acceleration that there is substantial reduction in the peak response; however, the higher frequency content in the response has increased. For the structures considered, the top floor displacements are lesser in the FDF than in the MRF; however, the top floor displacements are marginally larger in the FDF than in the BF.