Evaluation of Damping Ratios for the Seismic Analysis of Tall Buildings
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper examines damping ratios in tall buildings in California inferred from motions recorded in instrumented buildings during earthquake motions. A total of 41 measured seismic responses from 14 buildings with 20 or more stories are analyzed using a parametric least-squares system identification technique in the time domain. The reliability of the inferred damping ratios is first examined based on the sensitivity of the structural response to variations in modal damping ratios. Using only inferred damping ratios deemed reliable, it is found that the damping ratios of the fundamental mode decrease with increasing building height, reaching values lower than 2.5%—the damping value that is commonly recommended for seismic design in the United States for buildings taller than 150 m. The variation of damping of higher modes with frequency is then examined by studying the results of those buildings where damping ratios of at least the first three modes are reliably inferred. It is shown that the variation of damping with frequency follows an approximately linear trend. No evidence was found to suggest that a mass-proportional model could be appropriate. The amplitude dependency of damping is then analyzed for buildings having four or more recorded earthquakes, finding no statistical correlation between the peak roof drift ratio and the identified fundamental damping ratio.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge CONICYT—Becas Chile, and the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University for the financial aid for to the first author for conducting doctoral studies at Stanford under the supervision of the second author. Ground and structural motions used in this investigation were obtained from the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program of the California Geological Survey and from the United States Geological Survey. Efforts to install, operate, and maintain seismic instrumentation in buildings as well as to process and disseminate earthquake records by these organizations are gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their careful review of our manuscript as well as for their suggestions to improve it.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 1 • January 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2015
Accepted: Jun 18, 2016
Published online: Jul 25, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 25, 2016
Published in print: Jan 1, 2017
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