• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.271-296
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• 2006

The frequency of a traditional tuned liquid column damper (TLCD) depends solely on the length of liquid column, which imposes certain restrictions on its application to long span cable-stayed bridges during construction. The configuration of a cable-stayed bridge varies from different construction stages and so do its natural frequencies. It is thus difficult to apply TLCD with a fixed configuration to the bridge during construction or it is not economical to design a series of TLCD with different liquid lengths to suit for various construction stages. Semi-active tuned liquid column damper (SATLCD) with adaptive frequency tuning capacity is studied in this paper for buffeting response control of a long span cable-stayed bridge during construction. The frequency of SATLCD can be adjusted by active control of air pressures inside the air chamber at the two ends of the container. The performance of SATLCD for suppressing combined lateral and torsional vibration of a real long span cable-stayed bridge during construction stage is numerically investigated using a finite element-based approach. The finite element model of SATLCD is also developed and incorporated into the finite element model of the bridge for predicting buffeting response of the coupled SATLCD-bridge system in the time domain. The investigations show that with a fixed container configuration, the SATLCD with adaptive frequency tuning can effectively reduce buffeting response of the bridge during various construction stages.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.543-558
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• 2005

The natural frequencies of a long span bridge vary during its construction and it is thus difficult to apply traditional tuned liquid column dampers (TLCD) with a fixed configuration to reduce bridge vibration. The restriction of TLCD imposed by frequency tuning requirement also make it difficult to be applied to structure with either very low or high natural frequency. A semi-active tuned liquid column damper (SATLCD), whose natural frequency can be altered by active control of liquid column pressure, is studied in this paper. The principle of SATLCD with adaptive tuning capacity is first introduced. The analytical models are then developed for lateral vibration of a structure with SATLCD and torsional vibration of a structure with SATLCD, respectively, under either harmonic or white noise excitation. The non-linear damping property of SATLCD is linearized by an equivalent linearization technique. Extensive parametric studies are finally carried out in the frequency domain to find the beneficial parameters by which the maximum vibration reduction can be achieved. The key parameters investigated include the distance from the centre line of SATLCD to the rotational axis of a structure, the ratio of horizontal length to the total length of liquid column, head loss coefficient, and frequency offset ratio. The investigations demonstrate that SATLCD can provide a greater flexibility for its application in practice and achieve a high degree of vibration reduction. The sensitivity of SATLCD to the frequency offset between the damper and structure can be improved by adapting its frequency precisely to the measured structural frequency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2008

The dynamic characteristics of the passive, semi-active, and active tuned-liquidcolumn dampers (or TLCDs) are studied in this paper. The design of the latter two are based on the first one. A water-head difference (or simply named as water head in this paper) of a passive TLCD is pre-set to form the so-called semi-active one in this paper. The pre-set of water head is released at a proper time instant during an earthquake excitation in order to enhance the vibration reduction of a structure. Two propellers are installed along a shaft inside and at the center of a passive TLCD to form an active one. These two propellers are driven by a servo-motor controlled by a computer to provide the control force. The seismic responses of a five-story shear building with a passive, semiactive, and active TLCDs are computed for demonstration and discussion. The responses of this building with a tuned mass damper (or TMD) are also included for comparison. The small-scale shaking-table experiments of a pendulum-like system with a passive or active TLCD to harmonic and seismic excitations are conducted for verification.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.66-71
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• 2003

The semi-active TLCD system is investigated for control of responses of 3D irregular buildings under seismic excitations. The TLCD system is a special type of TMD system providing a performance similar to a TMD system but offers a number of practical advantages over the traditional TMD system. The equations of motion for the combined building and TLCD system are derived for multistory building structures with rigid floors and plan and elevation irregularities. Simulation results for control of two multistory moment-resisting space structures with vertical and plan irregularities show clearly that the semi-active TLCD control system reduces the responses of 3D irregular buildings subjected to earthquake ground motions efficiently.