Application of the Equivalent Static Analysis procedure for the seismic design of buildings with added viscous dampers

Most of the actual seismic design procedures for structures equipped with viscous dampers requires the development of non-linear time-history analyses, which, even though of quite common use among the researchers, still represent a challenge for professional engineers. The paper describes a simple Equivalent Static Analysis procedure for the seismic design of building structures equipped with added viscous damper. The procedure, which is based on the fundamentals of the dynamics of multi-storey frame structures with added viscous dampers, is aimed at estimating the maximum forces in the viscous dampers as well as the peak internal actions in the structural members. The simplified procedure is applied for the design of a 3-storey reference steel frame analysed by other researchers.