Experimental investigation of the effects of material and geometric characteristics on the mechanical behavior of viscoelastic dampers

Recent earthquakes have caused widespread damage, highlighting the urgent need for the de-velopment of intelligent and sustainable cities. As a result, there is an increasing effort to prevent permanent damage or disruption to urban structures caused by earthquakes or other environmental factors. One effective solution for mitigating the damage to structures during severe earthquakes is the use of energy dissipation devices. This paper investigates the me-chanical behavior of viscoelastic dampers (VEDs) used in structural engineering for seismic and vibration control. Two types of viscoelastic dampers, plate-shaped and cylindrical, were designed, fabricated, and evaluated under dynamic sinusoidal loading conditions. The study aims to compare the energy dissipation capacity of different viscoelastic materials, specifical-ly natural rubber (NBR) and chlorobutyl rubber (CIIR), and to examine how damper geome-try influences their performance. The fabricated dampers were tested under dynamic sinusoi-dal loading with amplitudes of ۴, ۸, and ۱۲ mm, and frequencies of ۰.۱, ۰.۵, and ۱ Hz. The results showed that the dampers made from chlorobutyl rubber exhibited higher damping ca-pacity than those made from natural rubber. However, the natural rubber dampers demon-strated greater load-bearing capacity due to their higher stiffness. Additionally, due to their larger volume of material under deformation, the cylindrical dampers outperformed the plate-shaped dampers, with nearly double the damping capacity.

کلیدواژه ها:

dampers ، viscoelastic material ، natural rubber ، chlorobutyl rubber.