Optimal risk-based design of linear dampers for seismic retrofit of

buildings
E. Tubaldi1*, M. Barbato2, A. DallAsta1
1

School of Architecture and Design, University of Camerino

Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno (AP), Italy
etubaldi@gmail.com, a.asta@tin.it

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University and A&M College
3418H Patrick F. Taylor Hall, Nicholson Extension, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
mbarbato@lsu.edu
ABSTRACT

This paper presents a probabilistic methodology for the optimal risk-based design of linear
viscous/visco-elastic dampers in single and/or coupled buildings [1]. The uncertainties affecting both
the seismic input and the model parameters are taken into account, as well as the correlation between
the multiple limit states employed to describe the seismic performance.
The design for a given performance objective is an inverse reliability problem and is cast in the form
of an optimization problem. The procedure proposed in this paper for solving this problem is
consistent with and can be incorporated into modern PBEE frameworks. Although the proposed
approach is general, it is specialized in this study to the case of linear elastic systems in order to take
advantage of existing analytical techniques for estimating the buildings structural response statistics
[2].
The effectiveness of the proposed design methodology is illustrated by considering two steel
buildings modeled as linear elastic multi-degree-of-freedom systems for different linear dampers
types and collocation.
References
[1] I. Takewaki, Building control with passive dampers: Optimal performance-based design for
earthquakes. John Wiley & Sons (Asia), Singapore, 2009.
[2] M. Barbato, M. Vasta, Closed-form solutions for the time-variant spectral characteristics of nonstationary random processes. Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 25, 9-17, 2010.