Influence of the nonlinear behavior of viscous dampers on the seismic demand hazard of building frames

This paper analyzes the influence of damper properties on the probabilistic seismic performance of building frames equipped with viscous dampers. In particular, a probabilistic methodology is employed to evaluate the influence of the damper nonlinearity, measured by the damper exponent, on the performance of structural and nonstructural components of building frames, as described by the response hazard curves of the relevant engineering demand parameters. The performance variations due to changes in the damper nonlinearity level are evaluated and highlighted by considering two realistic design scenarios and by comparing the results of a set of cases involving dampers with different exponents designed to provide the same deterministic performance. By this way, it is possible to evaluate the influence of the nonlinear response and of its dispersion on the demand hazard. It is shown that the damper nonlinearity level strongly affects the seismic performance and different trends are observed for the demand parameters of interest. A comparison with code provisions shows that further investigation is necessary to provide more reliable design formulas accounting for the damping nonlinearity level. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.