Case Study of Variable Orifice Damper for Seismic Protection of Structures

The seismic protection is, without any doubt, a worldwide priority, and that is why one of the main preoccupations of the researchers in the field is finding some innovative concepts concerning the seismic protection of the structures. The aim of the paper consists in the analytical and numerical study of the variable orifice damper implemented in a single degree of freedom (SDOF) structure in order to increase people’s safety and reduce the seismic risk. The variable orifice damper is the common semi-active hydraulic device which may be utilized as part of seismic isolation system or within the lateral bracing of a structure. The semi-active control strategy is realized using on-off clipping control algorithm. It is concluded that the variable orifice damper afforded a substantial reduction of the displacement response of a SDOF system in comparison to the response with passive control fluid device.