Seismic response control of building structures with superelastic shape memory alloy wire dampers

This paper presents a simulation-based benchmark control study in which shape memory alloy (SMA) wire dampers are utilized to control the seismic response of a three-story nonlinear steel frame building. The SMA wire damper uses superelastic Nitinol wires for energy dissipation because of its high fatigue life and large recoverable strain. An analytical model which considers the training effect of SMA wires is used to describe the stress-strain relationship of superelastic SMA wires. The performance of SMA wire dampers is investigated in the framework of the third-generation benchmark problem on structural control. A comparative study of the seismic response control performance of SMA wire dampers with either unprestrained or prestrained SMA wires was also conducted. The results of this simulation-based benchmark control study show that SMA wire dampers, as a passive structure control measure, can effectively reduce the seismic responses of the three-story nonlinear benchmark building structure and has the potential to withstand several design earthquakes without the need for repair.