Coupling technique between adjacent structures for vibration control using inerter element

Resumo

Vibration control techniques in structures are widely studied as a way to guarantee reliability and
comfort for its users. In addition, structural control techniques ensure that complex structures, with a high degree
of vibration restriction, can be designed. A technique that has been gaining space in recent years is of the so called
structural coupling. In this technique, adjacent structures are connected by control devices, whether passive, active,
semi-active or hybrid. Thus, one structure exerts forces of control over the other, reducing the amplitude of
vibrations of each individual structure and the coupled system. Studies on structural coupling as proposed by Pérez
Peña [1] use viscofluid and viscoelastic dampers (passive systems) in the connection between buildings and
demonstrate the efficiency of this technique. As an alternative to these dampers, more recently, the inert elements
have appeared. The use of inertial dampers, which use inertial mass rotating forces, emerged in the early 2000s,
when Smith [2] defined the term “inerter” as a mechanical two-node (two-terminal) and one-port device with the
property of that the equal and opposite force applied at nodes is proportional to the relative acceleration between
the terminals. In the structural coupling technique, the inerter devices are still little explored. Thus, the aim of this
work is to verify the efficiency of the application of inerter devices in the connection between adjacent buildings.
The buildings are modeled as shear frame structures. The position, quantity and mechanical properties of the
connection devices are optimized by the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The initial results indicate that the
use of inerters in the connection between adjacent buildings requires caution, since the addition of inertia to the
system decreases its natural frequencies, which can be harmful to the coupled system.