Parametric optimization of an inerter-based vibration absorber for wind-induced vibration mitigation of a tall building

he inerter-based vibration absorber (IVA) is an enhanced variation of Tuned Mass Damper (TMD). The parametric optimization of absorbers in the previous research mainly considered only two decision variables, namely frequency ratio and damping ratio, and aimed to minimize peak displacement and acceleration individually under the excitation of the across-wind load. This paper extends these efforts by minimizing two conflicting objectives simultaneously, i.e., the extreme displacement and acceleration at the top floor, under the constraint of the physical mass. Six decision variables are optimized by adopting a constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (CMOEA), i.e., NSGA-II, under fluctuating across- and along-wind loads, respectively. After obtaining a set of optimal individuals, a decision-making approach is employed to select one solution which corresponds to a Tuned Mass Damper Inerter/Tuned Inerter Damper (TMDI/TID). The optimization procedure is applied to parametric optimization of TMDI/TID installed in a 340-meter-high building under wind loads. The case study indicates that the optimally-designed TID outperforms TMDI and TMD in terms of wind-induced vibration mitigation under different wind directions, and the better results are obtained by the CMOEA than those optimized by other formulae. The optimal TID is proven to be robust against variations in the mass and damping of the host structure, and mitigation effects on acceleration responses are observed to be better than displacement control under different wind directions.