Publication on Tuned Damping of a Balcony System

Cantilevered structures, such as balconies, when subject to human activity such as walking and jumping, can be susceptible to levels of vibration that may be deemed annoying by some users. If the structure is an irregular shape, the affected areas can often be fairly localized, with the rest of the space performing appropriately. Traditional approaches to controlling vibration include stiffening the structure and adding mass. However, in many cases, architectural, structural or cost constraints mean that these are not acceptable solutions, particularly where wholesale design changes would be required to achieve the desired effect in the localized area being considered.
Adding damping to the structure, using tuned mass dampers, is a very effective way of controlling vibration. By increasing the amount of energy that is dissipated when the structure oscillates, excessive build-up is avoided.

ASCE Journal Vol28 article on balcony vibration control

The paper titled

“Tuned Damping of Balcony Vibration”
on abating the vibration of a balcony system in a performing arts center has recently been published in “Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities”, a publication of The American Society of Civil Engineers. The subject of the paper is about a collaborative project between ARUP of New York and DEICON on mitigating the vibration in a stack of three balconies using tuned mass dampers.
The citation for the paper is:
Kashani, R., Pearce, A., and Markham, B., 2014 “Tuned Damping of Balcony Vibration,” ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Volume 28, Issue 3 (2014).
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