Simplified seismic design and analysis of structures with nonlinear fluid viscous dampers

This paper presents a simplified seismic design and analysis method for buildings equipped with nonlinear fluid viscous dampers (FVD). The design procedure for building incorporating nonlinear FVD is proposed based on Chinese design response spectrum, in which the damping coefficient of damper is determined according to the principle that the horizontal component of the damper force is proportional to the corresponding interstory drift demand. The application of the simple procedure is illustrated using an example. It is demonstrated that the presented method is effective and straightforward for design of buildings with nonlinear FVD, particularly at the stage of preliminary design.