In this study, a fuzzy logic controller is employed to synchronize the response of two adjacent buildings coupled with a magneto-rheological (MR) damper and also, to reduce the minimum separation gap required, thus avoiding Pounding hazard between adjacent buildings. Adopting a coupling strategy allows us to transform two separated structures into one system coupled by a damping device, which results in a synchronised vibrating mode between the coupled structures. A number of structural configurations presenting a high Pounding risk are investigated for this study. It has been found that chances of Pounding are reduced along with a reduction regarding top floor displacement and maximum drift. The use of fuzzy logic controller results in optimization of the damper force. In addition, it has been also observed that the use of a single damper at the top floor reduces responses and avoids Pounding of adjacent buildings.

In recent times, earthquake-induced structural Pounding has been intensively studied through the use of different impact force models. The numerical results obtained from the previous studies indicate that the linear viscoelastic model is relatively simple and accurate in modeling Pounding-involved behavior of structures during earthquakes. The only shortcoming of the model is a negative value of the Pounding force occurring just before separation, which has no physical explanation. The aim of the present paper is to verify the effectiveness of the modified linear viscoelastic model, in which the damping term is activated only during the approach period of collision, therefore overcoming this disadvantage. First, the analytical formula between the impact damping ratio and the coefficient of restitution is reassessed in order to satisfy the relation between the post-impact and the prior-impact relative velocities. Then, the performance of the model is checked in a number of comparative analyses, including numerical simulation of Pounding-involved response, as well as comparison with the results of the impact experiment and shaking table experiments concerning Pounding between two steel towers excited by harmonic waves. The final outcome of this study demonstrates that the results obtained through the modified linear viscoelastic model without the tension force are comparably similar to those found by using the linear viscoelastic model.

Pounding between adjacent buildings is a detrimental issue for buildings in cities because they are closely located while vibrating out of phase due to different dynamic properties (mainly different mass and/or height) during earthquake excitation. This paper presents a numerical study on the Pounding between the adjacent buildings with different masses during earthquake excitation. The buildings modeled via lumped mass procedure are connected by linear vico-elastic contact force model during Pounding. Seismic responses of the buildings due to earthquake acceleration are obtained for different building configurations and the results are discussed and compared. Pounding effect is amplified for the lighter building while Pounding effect is negligible for the heavier building.

The present aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different parameters influencing Pounding in highway bridges. Pounding is the result of a collision between two parts of the deck and/or the deck and abutments at the separation distance during the earthquake. In the present study, the period ratio of the adjacent frames, ground motion spatial variation, and soil-structure interaction were considered as the significant parameters influencing the Pounding. Accordingly, 144 different models of bridge were generated by changing characteristics of the piers and spans length, and were subjected to non-linear dynamic analysis. The results indicated that ignoring the effects of soil-structure interaction and ground motion spatial variation led to calculate unrealistic responses in the bridges. Finally, it is found that designing bridges including frames with similar or close period is not regarded as an appropriate solution to reduce the Pounding effects in the bridges.

Seismic Pounding occurs as a result of lateral vibration and insufficient separation distance between two adjacent structures during earthquake excitation. This research aims to evaluate the stochastic behavior of adjacent structures with equal heights under earthquake-induced Pounding. For this purpose, many stochastic analyses through comprehensive numerical simulations are carried out. About 4. 65 million time-history analyses were carried out over the considered models within OpenSees software framework. Various separation distances effects are also studied. The response of considered structures is obtained by means of Hertzdamp contact element. The models have been excited using 25 earthquake records with different peak ground accelerations. The probability of collision between neighboring structures has been evaluated. An efficient combination of analytical and simulation techniques is used for the calculation of the separation distance under the assumptions of non-linear elasto-plastic behavior for the structures. The results obtained through Monte Carlo simulations show that use of the current provision’ s rule may significantly overestimate or underestimate the required separation distance, depending on the natural vibration periods of adjacent buildings. Moreover, based on the results, a formula is developed for stochastic assessment of required separation distance.

In this paper it is attempted to study seismic responses of adjacent buildings subjected to earthquake induced Pounding and to clarify Pounding effects for various separation gaps. An analytical model of adjacent buildings resting on a half-space is provided whilst the buildings are connected by visco-elastic contact force model. Results show that with same separation gap, adjacent buildings with structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI) are more likely to pound together than buildings with fixed-based (FB) condition. Also, building condition gets worse due to Pounding because the seismic responses of buildings are unfavourably increased and the condition becomes more critical if the separation gap becomes narrower.