Seismic protection of monuments using particle dampers in multi-drum columns

This paper investigates the use of innovative, cost-effective techniques to protect ancient monuments consisting of multi-drum columns from seismic excitations. The proposed approach includes the use of particle dampers in the form of classical drums, with a hollow part containing particles. These can substitute damaged or missing drums. Their effectiveness in reducing the seismic response of classical columns is examined by exciting a marble multi-drum column-model of 3 m height by dynamic loads. The influence of the system parameters such as mass ratio (mass of particles with respect to mass of the column), placement of damper, particle and damper size on the effectiveness of the particle damper is also investigated. The experimental results showed that particle dampers, if properly designed, can reduce the monument's dynamic response by more than 30%. Finally, some brief design guidelines are given for benefiting from the use of such dampers in monumental sites. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.