Performance analysis of natural rubber viscoelastic dampers: A low-cost solution for structural damping

Passive control of multistory building frames using natural rubber-based viscoelastic dampers under seismic excitation is investigated. Viscoelastic dampers are the most often utilized as energy dissipation devices for mitigating the effects of seismic forces on the structure. This study aimed to determine the effect of viscoelastic dampers at various frequencies, amplitudes and application in to structural response reduction subjected to El Centro ground motions. In the beginning, rubber samples are acquired and tested for uniaxial tensile strength and stress relaxation test. The proper hardness was then chosen for fabricating the Viscoelastic dampers based on the analytical analysis. Cyclic loading is performed on the fabricated Viscoelastic dampers at varied frequencies and amplitudes. Then, the results were quantitatively confirmed using the FEM software ABAQUS V6.13. The test findings demonstrate that the newly fabricated model accurately describes the mechanical performance and damping capability of a viscoelastic damper, showing a 30% improvement in damping efficiency at 5 Hz compared to conventional models. Finally, the response reduction is drastically reduced when natural rubber-based viscoelastic dampers are introduced to the building model.