Nonlinear Characteristic of a Tuned Liquid Column Damper under Various Excitation Amplitude

The objective of this study is to investigate design parameters of a tuned liquid column damper(TLCD), which is affected by various excitation amplitude, through shaking table test. Design parameters of a TLCD are examined based on the equivalent tuned mass damper(TMD) model of a TLCD, in which the nonlinear damping of a TLCD is transposed to equivalent viscous damping. Shaking table test is carried out for a TLCD specimen subjected to harmonic waves with various amplitude. Transfer functions are ratios of liquid displacement of TLCD and control force produced by a TLCD, respectively, with respect to the acceleration excited by a shaking table. They are derived based on the equivalent TMD model of a TLCD. Then, the variation of design parameters according to the excitation amplitude is examined by comparing analytical transfer functions with experimental ones. Finally, the dissipation energy due to the damping of a TLCD, which is experimentally observed from the shaking table test, is examined according to the excitation amplitude. Comparisons between test results and analytical transfer functions showed that natural frequencies of TLCD and the ratio of the liquid mass in a horizontal column to the total liquid mass do not depend on the excitation amplitude, while the damping ratio of a TLCD increases with larger excitation amplitude.