Predicting the seismic collapse capacity of adjacent SMRFs retrofitted with fluid viscous dampers in pounding condition

Abstract

Abstract Severe damages of adjacent structures due to structural pounding during earthquakes have emphasized the need to use some seismic retrofit strategy to enhance the structural performance. The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of using linear and nonlinear Fluid Viscous Dampers (FVDs) on the seismic collapse capacities of adjacent structures prone to pounding and proposing modification factors to modify the median collapse capacity of structures considering the effects of pounding. The factors can be used to predict the collapse capacity of structures in pounding condition. A seismic retrofit strategy employs FVDs installed in 3-, 6- and 9-story Special Moment Resisting Frames (SMRFs). The SMRFs were assumed to have different values of separation distance according to the seismic code. To model pounding phenomenon, linear viscoelastic contact elements were used in the OpenSees software. Furthermore, to determine the seismic collapse capacities of each structure, the proposed algorithm was applied to remove the collapsed structure during the incremental dynamic analysis. The results of the analyses illustrate that the existence of FVDs can substantially improve the seismic behavior of structures having a significant influence on the collapse capacities of colliding structures. Moreover, considering the adjacent SMRFs in one or two sides of the main structure can significantly affect the median collapse capacity of the main structure itself. Finally, the proposed modification factors can be successfully used to estimate the effects of pounding on the collapse capacities of adjacent structures.