Simple ATMD Control Methodology for Tall Buildings Subject to Wind Loads

A procedure for the design of an active tuned mass damper for vibration control in tall buildings subject to wind loads is presented. The building motions are modeled by the first mode of the response, and it is assumed that the excitation is white noise. The controller is based on complete feedback (namely, feedback of displacement, velocity, and acceleration). The controller gains that minimize the variance of the rooftop displacement are derived in closed-form. Two examples, one of a 162 m tall planar frame and the other of a 400 m tall building in a city are studied to illustrate the active damper design and to evaluate the procedure and the results. The same examples are then studied as multiple-degree-of-freedom systems subject to nonwhite excitation that better simulates the wind. Results on the reduction of the dynamic response and control effectiveness of the active damper designs are presented and discussed.