Design of Tuned Mass Damper Fluid Inerter for Wind-Induced Vibration Control of a Tall Building

In this paper, the problem of wind-induced vibration in tall buildings is addressed by utilizing a new type of damper, the tuned mass damper fluid inerter (TMDFI). The TMDFI incorporates an inerter in the classical tuned mass damper (TMD), which is physically realized using fluid in a helical channel. The device arrangement is optimized using a proposed nonlinear procedure and it is demonstrated through numerical simulations that the application of the TMDFI achieves excellent vibration control performance. Specifically, it has been found that the TMDFI requires lower mass and stroke requirements than traditional passive dampers while achieving comparable or better vibration reductions. It has been shown numerically that the damper demonstrates excellent vibration control capabilities by reducing the RMS displacement of the building by ≈50% and the RMS acceleration by 35%–80%. The results presented here show that the TMDFI is a damper capable of mitigating wind-induced vibrations in tall buildings with relatively simple design requirements. This new damper has the potential to significantly improve the safety, comfort, and durability of tall buildings subjected to wind loads.