Seismic Response Analysis of Vertically Irregular RC Building with MR Dampers

Seismic hazard mitigation has become one of the emerging problems in structural engineering therefore; many researchers have been studied on seismic performance of reinforced concrete structures having vertically regular and irregular. It is noted that vertically irregular structures are more prone to hazards due to earthquake. The recent emerging trend is to use active, passive, semi-active controls that aid in keeping the responses of structures in permissible. The most dynamically varied semi-active damper is a Magneto-Rheological (MR) damper which is used in this study to control the seismic responses. In the present study, four different models with and without MR dampers of which three models are vertically irregular in height are subjected to four realistic ground motions. The governing equation of motion for various building models is solved numerically by Newmark’s step-by-step integration method. The dynamic behaviour of semiactive MR damper has been predicted by modified Bouc-Wen model. This study employed the Lyapunov direct approach as a control algorithm for stability analysis and design of MR controller. The responses of various building models are simulated through MATLABâcomputing software. The study observed that considerable reduction in seismic responses of models with MR dampers is obtained as compared to respective building models without control. It is also observed that responses of building models are influenced by the vertical irregularities in mass and stiffness of building models.