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Technical Papers

75. Structural Control Using Hybrid Spring-Damper Isolator with Integral Gapping Function

The spring-damper isolators described in this paper were used on the world's largest cable stayed bridge - the Sutong Bridge over China's Yangtze River, completed in 2008. The Sutong Bridge is located north of Shanghai in China's Jiangsu Province at a site where catastrophic earthquakes, typhoons, and ship impact are key design issues. The total length of the bridge is 4.7 miles, with a .67 mile long center span. The tall support towers of this bridge and the long support cables create long period motions along the primary axis of the bridge. The need to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction of the deck axially means that extensive motion can occur in this direction. The configuration of the bridge permits large axial motion of the suspended deck during earthquakes, typhoons, and synchronized truck/car braking loads such as would occur during a mass vehicular accident on the bridge. During dynamic earthquake loading, the long period of the suspended deck provides inherent isolation, albeit essentially undamped. Analysis indicated that added viscous damping would reduce deck motions substantially. During other events like typhoons and vehicle loading, analysis determined that the most cost-effective solution was to incorporate a snubbing type spring element that would only engage (become active) when the damper was approaching its end of travel in either extension or compression. The spring-dampers on this bridge have only damping forces for roughly 85% of the available displacement from the neutral (center of travel) position. Beyond this travel the spring element engage and a combined response of spring plus damper forces results. Essentially, the spring elements are "gapped" through all but approximately the last 15% of the damper stroke in either direction.

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12. Passive and Active Fluid Dampers in Structural Applications

Analytical and experimental results demonstrate that the performance improvements from active control systems can also be achieved with passive and semi-active fluid dampers. However, passive or semi-active fluid dampers offer the advantages of low cost, no or minimal demand for external power, longevity and reliability.

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White Paper

15. Reduction of Shock Response Spectra Using Various Types of Shock Isolation Mounts

This experiment demonstrated how various types of shock absorbers can reduce the overall shock response spectra of a structure subjected to high impact shock. This was accomplished by measuring the acceleration on a weight dropped onto three different shock absorbers from various heights and analyzing the resulting data. A baseline test was performed with a steel hard mount. This was followed by tests with three different soft isolation mounts; a half inch thick neoprene pad, a urethane rubber tube on its side and a hydraulic liquid spring type shock absorber. Results show that both the dominant frequencies and the peak acceleration get lower as the isolation system gets softer. This information can be valuable in the design of isolation systems.

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Case Study

16. Rockwell Viscous Damper Specifications

This specification covers the set of ten linear fluid viscous dampers along with their mounting brackets and pins for the Rockwell Building located at Jamboree Road and Birch in Newport Beach, California. These dampers provide an output force in either tension of compression that is directly proportional to the relative velocity between the two ends of the dampers. The damper output force varies only with velocity and does not change with damper stroke position or orientation angle. The function of the dampers is to absorb earthquake energy, thereby reducing the amount the building moves when an earthquake occurs.

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