Mechanical model and structural control performance of a new rotation-magnified viscoelastic damper

In this paper, a new rotation-magnified viscoelastic damper (RMVD) was developed. The damper applying the lever principle amplified the relatively small angular deformation manyfold at the beam-column joints, increased the shear deformation and hysteretic energy dissipation of viscoelastic materials to achieve an ideal energy dissipation effect. Firstly, the basic structure and working principle of the RMVD were introduced, and the quality index of high damping butyl rubber was discussed through the uniaxial tensile test and shear test. Secondly, the physical model of a new rotation-magnified viscoelastic damper was built, and its hysteresis curve was obtained through experiments. Additionally, the mechanical properties were compared with those of the traditional non-amplification function angle damper. Then, according to the structural characteristics and experimental results of the RMVD, the mechanical models were proposed to conduct a numerical simulation. Finally, the dynamic time-history analysis of the steel frame structure with the new damper installed at the beam-column joints was performed, and the results showed that the RMVD has a better damping control effect.