Multi-objective optimal design of double tuned mass dampers for structural vibration control

A double tuned mass damper (DTMD) for suppressing oscillations of civil structures is proposed in this study. DTMD is a combination of an undamped TMD and a smaller TMD. The impact of parameters on the essential characteristics, as well as the vibration absorption capacity of DTMD, is investigated. Using genetic algorithms (GA), the optimum parameters of DTMD are determined by minimizing the peak dynamic magnification factor of structural responses for a wide range of excitation frequencies. The effectiveness and robustness of DTMD are also compared with those of the optimized TMD having a similar weight as the DTMD. Furthermore, multi-objective optimization designs of DTMD (for both two-objective and three-objective) are also developed here. This study indicates that the DTMD is more effective than a single TMD. If keeping a similar efficiency to that of an optimized TMD, the optimum DTMD has a broader domain for choosing the frequency and damping ratio. In this sense, a DTMD is much more robust than a single TMD.