Experimental study on the dynamic performance of a winding rope fluid viscous damper

This study proposed a winding rope fluid viscous damper (WRFVD) using the winding ropes to amplify the damping force of a fluid viscous damper. To investigate the dynamic performance of the WRFVD, four different prototypes were fabricated and tested under a series of sinusoidal loading protocols. Experimental results demonstrated that the WRFVD is a velocity-dependent damping device with significant and stable energy dissipation capacity. The winding rope amplification mechanism can effectively amplify the damping force of the fluid viscous damper by 3 to 6 times, and amplify the energy dissipation of the fluid viscous damper by 3.5 to 6.9 times. After 30 cycles of fatigue loading, the maximum damping force and the energy dissipation capacity of the WRFVD almost not decayed. The damping force of the WRFVD had a linear relationship with the damping force of fluid viscous damper with the coefficient of beta, and beta was only related to the construction of the WRFVD itself. The theoretical model of damping force based on the Maxwell-beta nonlinear model could reflect the mechanical properties of the WRFVD well, and the theoretical and experimental hysteresis curves are in good agreement.