Comparsion Between the Cyclic Response of Viscoelastic Dampers Made of Natural and Silicon Rubber

Viscoelastic dampers are passive vibration control devices widely employed for wind-induced and seismic-induced vibration control. In these dampers, a viscoelastic material dissipates the input energy through shear deformation. Different types of viscoelastic materials can be used in these dampers; however, limited studies have compared their efficiency. This paper presents the conducted experiments on the efficiency of natural rubber and silicon in reducing structural vibrations. At first, six different viscoelastic dampers made of natural rubber and silicon were fabricated and subjected to cyclic loading with different excitation frequencies and strain amplitudes. The dampers had a similar cross-sectional area, but their thicknesses were different. The hysteresis loops of dampers were plotted, and based on that, some of the essential parameters such as loss factor and energy dissipation capacity of dampers were calculated and compared. Then, the dampers were installed within a scaled-down three-story one-bay steel structure. The test structure was subjected to harmonic base excitations with different frequencies, and its lateral displacements and acceleration responses were measured on each floor. The obtained results indicated that for an identical amount of viscoelastic material, dampers made of natural rubber had a higher energy dissipation capacity than dampers made of silicon. Although all dampers significantly decreased the bare structure's displacement and acceleration responses, the natural rubber dampers were more efficient.