Yoshitaka Yabe

Active/passive vibration control systems for tall buildings

Three examples of vibration control systems are described. The first is a hybrid mass damper system, which is one type of active vibration control system, as installed on the top floor of a complex triangular building of forty-three stories in order to reduce the response of the building to strong winds and moderate earthquakes. The second is an unbonded brace damper, which is a kind of elasto-plastic damper using low-yield-point steel. It has been installed in a fifteen-story building as an energy absorption member to control severe earthquake motion. The last is a rotational variable damper using an electrorheological fluid. The feasibility of applying this type of damper to a real scale structure as a semi-active control device has been investigated.