Comparative Study of Seismic Performance of SLB, TADAS and Viscous Fluid Energy Dissipators in Hospitals

Abstract

Structural damage not only causes material losses but also human losses, especially in the case of essential buildings such as health facilities, as they must ensure the provision of medical services during and after an earthquake. On the other hand, Peru is a highly seismic country due to its location on the western edge of South America, an area where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates converge. For this reason, it is essential to reinforce these infrastructures with devices that help prevent and reduce damage caused by earthquakes and guarantee the safety of the hospital. This paper studies the seismic performance of three energy dissipators: Shear Link Bozzo (SLB), Triangular Plate Added Damping and Stiffness (TADAS) and viscous fluid; incorporated into an existing hospital in Peru. The methodology involves modeling these three devices using ETABS software and evaluating the following study cases: (i) without energy dissipators, (ii) with the three seismic devices evaluated separately. Non-linear time-history analysis is conducted, considering seven seismic records compatible with the response spectrum constructed from the parameters of the Peruvian Standard E.030. Finally, it was concluded that the viscous fluid dissipator is the best option to implement in the hospital since the maximum drifts, accelerations and shear forces on each floor were reduced by 45, 23 and 27%.