Comparative Study of Viscous Damper Arrangements for Seismic Energy Dissipation in a 17-Storey Reinforced-Concrete Shear-Wall Building

This thesis investigates the seismic performance of a 17-storey reinforced-concrete shear-wall building located in Almaty, Kazakhstan, equipped with supplemental viscous damping systems. The study applies the Direct Five-Step Procedure by Silvestri et al. to design nonlinear fluid viscous dampers and evaluates their effectiveness through detailed numerical modelling in SAP2000. Nonlinear time-history analysis (NLTHA) were performed for Damage Limitation (DL) and Life Safety (LS) limit states. Two fundamental damping strategies—stiffness-proportional damping (SPD) and mass-proportional damping (MPD)—were assessed independently. Building upon these findings, four hybrid damping configurations were developed, combining SPD and MPD devices in different vertical arrangements to optimize performance. The hybrid analyses revealed distinct behavioral patterns: Hybrid Case 1 and Case 2 offered reductions in base shear close to those of SPD alone, whereas Hybrid Case 3 produced a more balanced response across shear, displacement, and drift. Hybrid Case 4, which vertically divided MPD and SPD zones, proved less efficient and occasionally detrimental, due to incompatibility between the damping mechanisms across the transition level. A further configuration, Hybrid Case 5, employing a increased damping ratio for both SPD and MPD parts, demonstrated moderate reductions in seismic response while maintaining comparatively small damper forces. This balance suggests that Hybrid Case 5 may represent a practical compromise between structural efficiency and device feasibility. Overall, the study confirms that the correct selection and distribution of viscous dampers can meaningfully enhance seismic performance in high-rise RC buildings, with damper type and vertical placement playing a critical role in optimizing both structural response and device sizing.