Frequency domain analysis method of tuned liquid damper controlled multi-degree of freedoms system subject to earthquake excitation

Tuned liquid damper (TLD) is a typical passive device to control structural response under wind and earthquake excitation. At present, TLD is often used to control single-mode of structure. Hence, the design theory of TLD is often based on single-degree of freedom (SDOF) system in frequency domain, which is hard to accurately evaluate seismic performance of TLD-installed multi-degree of freedoms (MDOFs) with consideration of higher mode. In this work, a frequency domain transfer function for TLD controlled MDOFs system is established through the concept of substructure to evaluate overall seismic performance of TLD-installed MDOFs. The accuracy of the transfer function is verified by real-time hybrid testing. Using this transfer function, the effect of TLD on the seismic performance of MDOFs was discussed in frequency domain by parametric analysis. The analytical results indicated that, based on the design theory for single-mode, the TLD with large mass ratio cannot enhance the seismic performance effectively comparing with small mass ratio. In order to improve the control efficiency of relatively large mass TLD, a design method for multi-mode control is established based on the developed frequency domain transfer function. The simulation results showed that, with same TLD mass, the multi-mode method performed smaller structural acceleration response and similar displacement response relative to the single mode method. •A frequency domain analysis method is established for the damping performance design of tuned liquid damper controlled structure.•The damping efficiency of tuned liquid damper with large mass ratio designed by single-mode method is relatively low.•A multi-mode design method is developed to enhance the damping efficiency of tuned liquid damper.