Optimum parameters and performance of tuned mass damper-inerter for base-isolated structures

The optimum damping and tuning frequency ratio of the tuned mass damper-inerter (TMDI) for the base-isolated structure is obtained using the numerical searching technique under stationary white-noise and filtered white-noise earthquake excitation. The minimization of the isolated structure's mean-square relative displacement and absolute acceleration, as well as the maximization of the energy dissipation index, were chosen as the criteria for optimality. Using a curve-fitting technique, explicit formulae for TMDI damping and tuning frequency for white-noise excitation are then derived. The proposed empirical expressions for TMDI parameters are found to have a negligible error, making them useful for the effective design of baseisolated structures. The effectiveness of TMDI and its optimum parameters are influenced by the soil condition and isolation frequency, according to the comparison made of the optimized parameters and response with different soil profiles. The effectiveness of an optimally designed TMDI in controlling the displacement and acceleration response of the flexible isolated structure under real and pulse-type earthquakes is also observed and found to be increased as the inertance mass ratio increases.