Performance Optimization of the Nonlinear Response of Steel Buildings Controlled Using Nonlinear Energy Sinks

There is a need for more effective seismic protection for nonlinear steel buildings using linear tuned mass dampers (TMDs) and nonlinear energy sinks (NES). This research builds on a analytical framework established focusing on enhancing the seismic resilience of structures through optimal damper design using a proposed multi-input optimization (MIO) process. The optimization of the dampers was performed the two well-known metaheuristic algorithms, genetic algorithms (GAs) and particle swarm optimization (PSO), aiming at minimizing the dynamic response and maximizing the energy absorption under varied earthquake excitations. Then, a sensitivity analysis was performed to reveal the downside of the damper optimization based on a single excitation. Also, a comparison between the effect of two types of passive control systems, i.e., TMD and NES, on an inelastic building is carried out. The proposed technique sheds a new light on damper optimization whereby the optimized dampers are robust and efficient for an applied set of earthquake-induced ground motions.