Numerical analysis of a TMD supressor for vibration of bridges

• Grant number: 16/07832-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2016
• End date: July 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Rosa Franzini
• Grantee: Bianca Teixeira
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bridges are common structures on Civil Engineering and the study of their dynamics is of interest from both technological and academic communities. Particularly, it is desirable to keep low oscillation amplitudes in order to avoid interruptions during their lifespan.There are two types of vibration suppression, namely active and passive suppressors. Active suppressors demand energy for their use, contrary to the passive ones. A common passive suppression approach is the use of dampers on the structure.However, sometimes it is not possible to increase the structural damping until the oscillation amplitudes reach the desired level. Hence, other suppressors must be used. One of these suppressors is named TMD (tuned mass damper), which are the focus of this research project. TMDs are sets of mass, springs and dampers positioned at some points of the structure. TMDs oscillations cause a decrease in the oscillations of the main structure (in the case herein studied, a bridge).The objective of this research project is to carry out a series of numerical studies using both reduced-order models and the Finite Element Method for studying the use of TMDs in a simplified bridge model. It is expected to obtain curves showing how the oscillation amplitudes of the bridge decrease as functions of the parameters that defines a TMD and also its position along the bridge.