Damping Effects of Fluid Viscous Dampers on the Seismic Response of Bridges

교량의 지진응답거동에 작용하는 액체점성감쇠기의 감쇠효과 분석

Fluid viscous dampers have been used as energy dissipators or STU's (Shock Transmission Unit) in earthquake resistant designs for bridges. Viscous dampers have many advantages compared to other friction type or visco-elastic type of dampers. They do neither increase internal pier forces due to their out of phase response, nor produce reaction forces at the low velocities associated with thermal movements. Therefore, they anable the super structure to restore itself perfectly after a severe movement dut to seismic excitations. This paper investigates the response of bridges designed with viscous dampers in regard to damping coefficients, properties of dampers, and arrangements of dampers. For this purpose, time-history dynamic analyses have been performed using a very simple model relevant to a typical bridge example. Based on the results, it presents some design duidelines on how to determine a proper damping ratio and on how to arrange dampers. In usual cases, damping coefficients corresponding to about 0.2-0.3 of damping ratios seem to be very effective in bridge designs.