Effect of soil on the capacity of viscous dampers between adjacent buildings

Abstract

This study investigated the seismic pounding of two adjacent buildings considering soil–structure interaction (SSI). A comprehensive parametric study of buildings with different heights was performed to reveal the pounding-involved behaviour considering the soil effect. Wavelet transform has been conducted to gain insight into the differences in the frequency contents of the impact forces between fixed- and flexible-base adjacent structures. Linear viscous dampers (LVDs) between adjacent floors were used as pounding protection measures. The required supplemental damping ratio of the LVDs was determined through optimisation analysis under different soil types to verify the effect of the SSI on structural damping. Comparative results with and without SSI showed that incorporating the SSI worsens the pounding-involved responses during earthquakes.