A Bidirectional Pounding Tuned Mass Damper and Its Application to Transmission Tower-Line Systems under Seismic Excitations

Failures of transmission tower-line systems have frequently occurred during large earthquakes. It is essential to control the excessive vibrations of transmission tower-line systems to ensure their safe operation in such events. This paper numerically investigates the effectiveness of using a novel bidirectional pounding tuned mass damper (BPTMD) to control the seismic responses of transmission tower-line system when subjected to earthquake ground motions. A finite element model of a typical transmission tower-line system with BPTMD is developed using the commercial software ABAQUS, with the accuracy of the results verified against a previous study. The seismic responses of the system with and without BPTMD are calculated. For comparison, the control effect of using the conventional bidirectional tuned mass damper is also calculated and discussed. Finally, a parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of the mass ratio, seismic intensity, gap size and frequency ratio on the seismic response of the system, while optimal design parameters are obtained.