Experimental Study for a New Energy Dissipation Device: Multiple-Direction Damper

The way of passive control technologies has been recognized as an excellent method to mitigate seismic responses of structures during seismic excitations. In general, the energy dissipation devices based on their own mechanical property can be divided into two categories, which are velocity-dependent and displacement-dependent devices. In this study, a new displacement-dependent device which is called multiple-direction damper is proposed. The proposed damper has numerous advantages: (1) the fabrication of this energy-absorbing device is effortless; (2) the construction of the energy-absorbing system is easy; (3) it is simple to install the device into a structure; (4) the material used for this damper is easy to obtain; and (5) if any damage occurs in this damper during strong excitations, this energy-absorbing device can be replaced easily to recover its energy dissipation capacity. Experimental results from component tests show that the proposed damper provides significant energy-absorbing capacity. Furthermore, the multiple-direction dampers have also been equipped into a 5-story steel structure to demonstrate its efficiency on seismic mitigation. The experimental results from shaking table tests indicate that most of earthquake-induced energy imparted into the structure is dissipated by the proposed dampers. In the meanwhile, the seismic loadings imposing on the structure with devices can be reduced effectively as compared with those of the bare structure. Therefore, the multiple-direction damper can be recognized as an effective tool to assure the safety of structure under strong ground motions.