Performance enhancement method of traditional particle damper system based on shaking table test

This study addresses the performance degradation of traditional particle dampers (PDs) in vibration control under both low and excessive excitations by proposing two improvement methods, which specifically enhance the peak vibration reduction performance under large amplitudes and accelerate the vibration attenuation of the structure under small amplitudes. The first method enhances the damper’s internal energy dissipation by introducing buffer materials to form a buffered particle damper (BPD). A parameter study evaluated the effects of material type, installation position, and container size on performance. Shaking table tests on a steel frame demonstrate that the BPD provides sustained energy dissipation, enabling faster structural vibration attenuation. The second method introduces an external pulley system to amplify the response of the PD, resulting in a response-enhanced particle damper with a pulley system (PDPS). Experimental results show that PDPS significantly improves the vibration control performance of traditional PD across a variety of excitations. Overall, performance enhancements for traditional PDs are achieved through the addition of internal buffering components and the integration of an external pulley system. These findings highlight the potential of both BPD and PDPS as effective solutions for enhancing structural seismic performance.