Experimental and analytical study on design performance of full-scale viscoelastic dampers

Viscoelastic (VE) dampers, with their stiffness and energy dissipation capabilities, have been widely used in civil engineering for mitigating wind-induced vibration and seismic responses of structures, thus enhancing the comfort of residents and serviceability of equipment inside. In past relevant research, most analytical models for characterizing the mechanical behavior of VE dampers were verified by comparing their predictions with performance test results from small-scale specimens, which might not adequately or conservatively represent the actual behavior of full-scale dampers, especially with regard to the ambient temperature, temperature rise, and heat convection effects. Thus, in this study, by using a high-performance testing facility with a temperature control system, full-scale VE dampers were dynamically tested with different displacement amplitudes, excitation frequencies, and ambient temperatures. By comparing the analytical predictions with the experimental results, it is demonstrated that adopting the fractional derivative method together with considering the effects of excitation frequencies, ambient temperatures, temperature rises, softening, and hardening, can reproduce the design performance of full-scale VE dampers very well.