Passive vibration control in a civil structure: Experimental results

Abstract

The problem of vibrations in civil structures is common; nevertheless, its negative effects can be significantly reduced using structural control methods with intention of maintaining structural welfare as much as possible. This work deals with the study of structural vibration control in a model of a civil-like structure, which consists of three-level building with a tuned mass damper implemented as a passive vibration absorber, mounted on the top of the structure, to attenuate the harmonic vibrations provided by an electromagnetic actuator connected at the base of the primary system. The action of the tuned mass damper is evaluated from an energy approach. The dissipation of energy in the overall system is conducted in an experimental way, where the passive control technique is designed to minimize the undesirable forced dynamic response of the main structure via the tuned mass damper. Experimental results are provided to show the effective performance of the proposed passive vibration absorption scheme to suppress resonant frequency harmonic excitations disturbing the primary system, evaluating the performance energy and contribution of the dissipative device for the energy release in the overall system.