Parametric experimental study of wire rope spring tuned mass dampers

An extensive experimental study of wire rope spring tuned mass dampers (TMDs) is presented. A single-degree-of-freedom system with a pendulum-type TMD was tested on the shaker table. The pendulum-type TMD employed wire rope spring(s) to provide both the elastic and the damping forces. The test program included two mass ratios, single- and double-sided spring arrangements, two wire rope diameters, three spring attachment positions and four excitation levels. The system was tested under a Gaussian random white noise base acceleration. Time histories of the excitation, the primary system displacement and the auxiliary system rotation are presented and, from which, frequency response functions were obtained. Based on areas under the mechanical admittance functions, TMD response parameters were evaluated. The dynamic properties of the wire rope springs were determined through a free vibration test as amplitude-dependent effective stiffness and equivalent viscous damping ratio. Further, amplitude-dependent relationships for tuning and response parameters were established and were compared to the experimentally obtained response parameters. Moreover, the frequency response functions and the response parameters were compared to those of equivalent optimized linear TMDs.