Simulations of a Variable Friction Device for Multi-Hazard Mitigation

3 This paper investigates the performance of a novel semi-active damping device at mitigating non4 simultaneous multi-hazard loads. The device, termed modified friction device (MFD), has been previously 5 proposed by the authors. It consists of a variable friction system based on automotive drum brake technol6 ogy. The device has been demonstrated in a laboratory environment, and its dynamic behavior modeled. 7 This model is used to conduct numerical simulations on two representative structures, one short building 8 located in Japan and the other tall building located in Boston, MA. Simulated hazards include wind, blast, 9 and seismic loads. Various control cases are considered, including semi-active control under five different 10 sets of control weights, as well as passive viscous and passive friction to benchmark performance. Results 11 show that the semi-active control cases outperforms all of the other cases for the vast majority of hazards 12 and performance indices, provided that the right control weights are utilized. 13