Influence of Tuned Liquid Dampers on Plastic Deformations and Residual Displacements of Reinforced Concrete Buildings under Seismic Excitation

Abstract

Control systems such as base isolators and dampers are widely used to reduce the seismic energy input to structures. Among passive control devices, Tuned Liquid Dampers (TLDs) mitigate structural vibrations through sloshing of the contained liquid, which generates counteracting inertial forces without requiring external power. The effectiveness of TLD systems strongly depends on the selected mass ratio. This study evaluates the influence of TLD mass ratio on the seismic performance of a 10-story reinforced concrete frame building, with particular emphasis on plastic deformation demands and seismic-induced residual displacements. TLDs with different mass ratios are considered to assess their impact on interstory drift, column plastic rotations, and post-earthquake residual response. The results indicate that while increasing the mass ratio may lead to higher plastic deformation demands in certain cases, it consistently reduces residual displacements. Among the investigated configurations, a 5% mass ratio provides the most balanced performance, achieving significant reductions in residual displacement without substantial amplification of deformation demands. These findings highlight the importance of carefully tuning TLD mass ratio to achieve improved post-earthquake functionality while avoiding adverse increases in structural demand.