SEISMIC BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE FRAME WITH ADDED VISCOELASTICDAMPERS

This paper summarizes an experimental and analytical study on the seis mic retrofit of a 1/3-scale reinforced concrete frame using viscoelast ic dampers. After the frame had been damaged in the laboratory under s imulated strong earthquake ground motions, two sets of viscoelastic da mpers were designed and implemented to the structure, and the frame wa s subjected to further simulated seismic excitations. Test results sho w that viscoelastic dampers are very effective in reducing the seismic response of reinforced concrete structures, In addition, the equivale nt structural damping ratio can easily be predicted by the modal strai n energy method with some modification. Therefore, seismic design of r einforced concrete structures with added viscoelastic dampers can be c arried out similarly to conventional structural design procedures.