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This paper explores the potential of a tuned sloshing damper (TSD) in the control of small amplitude vibrations, which is often important from serviceability considerations, through the use of a relatively small mass ratio of the damper liquid. To investigate the nonlinear behavior of the TSD, real-time hybrid testing is conducted in which a single rectangular tank containing water constitutes the prototype TSD. The structure is modeled as a multi-degree-of-freedom system. Two different base input motions, namely harmonic and synthetically generated broad-banded input, are considered. The sensitivity of the TSD performance to tuning ratio vis-à-vis low mass ratio is studied. The experimental results are compared with those obtained from a numerical study carried out using the shallow water wave theory-based nonlinear, semi-empirical model, for the simulation of the sloshing motion of the TSD liquid (water). Results indicate that in the tuned condition, even with a low mass ratio, the TSD is highly effective in the suppression of the small amplitude vibrations, which is underestimated by the simulation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of controlling two modes of structural vibration due to earthquake excitation by considering the sloshing action in the vertical limbs of the liquid column vibration absorber (LCVA) has been explored in this paper. The structure has been modeled as a linear, viscously damped multi-degree-of-freedom (m.d.f.) system. The governing differential equations of motion for the damper liquid and for the coupled structure-LCVA system have been derived from dynamic equilibrium. The nonlinear orifice damping in the LCVA has been linearized by a stochastic equivalent linearization technique. A displacement transfer function formulation for the structure-LCVA system has been presented. The study has been carried out on a 2-d.f. example structure for which both the modes have significant contribution to the total response. The performance of the LCVA has been evaluated in the frequency domain with the base input characterized by a white noise power spectral density function and through a simulation study by subjecting the example structure-LCVA system to a recorded accelerogram. The results are compared with that of the liquid column damper and indicate superior performance of the LCVA. Furthermore, an LCVA has been designed for the example structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]