Development of a Frequency-Adjustable Tuned Mass Damper (FATMD) for Structural Vibration Control

The tuned mass damper (TMD) can be applied to suppress earthquake, wind, and pedestrian- and machine-induced vibration in factory buildings or large span structures. However, the traditional TMD with a fixed frequency will not be able to perform effectively against the frequency variations in multiple hazards. This paper proposed a frequency-adjustable tuned mass damper (FATMD) to solve this limitation of current TMD. The FATMD presented in this paper is composed of a simple assembly consisting of a supported beam with a mass, in which the frequency of the FATMD is changed by adjusting the span of the beam. The kinematic equation of a single degree of freedom (SDOF) structure installed with an FATMD is established to analyze the effect of the damping ratio, mass ratio, and stiffness on the vibration damping. The fundamental frequency of the FATMD at different spans is verified by simulation and experiments. Forced vibration experiments with different excitation frequencies are also conducted to verify the performance of the FATMD. The results show that the proposed FATMD can effectively suppress the vertical vibration of structures at different excitation frequencies, including frequencies at a range higher than what a traditional TMD may not be able to suppress. Additionally, the proposed FATMD is applied to a long-span pedestrian bridge which vibrates frequently due to the walking of pedestrians, the running of escalators, and earthquakes. The numerical results indicate that the FATMD can effectively reduce the vertical vibration of the pedestrian bridge under the excitations of pedestrians, escalators, and earthquakes