Response control of adjacent structures subjected to blast-induced vibrations

The response reduction efficiency of passive control viscous dampers installed between adjacent structures subjected to blast-induced vibrations was investigated. The blast-induced vibrations studied were mainly due to mining activities along with the accidental explosions in underground storage chambers. Equations of motion formulated by different researchers in examining the performance of damper-connected structures were reviewed. Two different types of structures (similar and dissimilar buildings) were selected to analyse the effectiveness of damper-connected buildings. A parametric study was also conducted to determine the optimum damper placement locations along with optimum damper properties for the similar buildings connected with viscous dampers. The results showed the efficiency of viscous dampers for the case of similar buildings. For dissimilar buildings, the peak responses were found to be almost equivalent for both connected and unconnected structures. Therefore, the root mean square responses were evaluated to compare the effect of blast vibrations beyond the initial impulse for the case of connected dissimilar buildings. In addition, the performance of similar structures connected with the same damping was compared with the responses obtained from different damping conditions to minimise the damping coefficient of dampers.