Passive energy dissipation enhancement of linear frame structures by the damped cable system

The Damped Cable System (DCS) is an innovative seismic protection technology of frame structures that incorporates pre-stressed steel cables linked to fluid viscous spring-dampers fixed to the foundation, at their lower ends, and to the top floor, or one of the upper floors, at their upper ends. The cables have sliding contacts with the floor slabs, to which they are joined by steel deviators. This determines a high-dissipative dynamic coupling between DCS and structure, capable of remarkably enhancing the seismic performance of the latter. An extensive research activity has been developed by the authors on the system, which included laboratory and field testing campaigns, structural modelling and assessment, and the formulation of design procedures. In this paper attention is focused on the finite element model of the DCS, conceived to be easily generated by commercial structural analysis programs, and validated by comparison with the results of the experimental surveys carried out. The model was ultimately updated, and its computational performance is examined by application to a demonstrative case study, constituted by a steel school built in the late 1960s.