Estimation of the optimum parameters of fluid viscous dampers for seismic response control of highway bridges

Fluid viscous dampers are generally well suited to vibration control of highway bridges subjected to seismic excitations. However, the parametric selection of the dampers for a real project has been lack of a simple and quick estimation method so far. To meet the needs of the design industry, a practical and fast estimation method is proposed for the design parameters of the damper. A bridge pier-bearing-damper-deck structure is modeled as a nonlinear two-degree-of-freedom system. The control goal is to reduce both the base shear and the bearing displacement. Based on MATLAB platform, a GUI is developed for the convenience of bridge engineers. An example of a real highway bridge is demonstrated for the application of the proposed method. Finally, a discussion is presented of the recent applications of fluid viscous dampers for seismic protection of highway bridges.