Influence of Viscous Damping Model on Time-History Response Analysis of Elastic-Plastic Systems (Part 2) : Comparison Across Different Hysteresis Models

Nonlinear time-history analyses were conducted on structural systems comprising 5 different elastic-plastic hysteresis models and adopting 13 different viscous damping models. The choice of damping model had little effect on the computed response of structural systems that experienced smooth transition of stiffness. However, some of the damping models, even those designed to maintain the effective damping ratio at the target value, developed very large, unintended damping forces at instances of significant stiffness change. The reasons for the unintended damping forces are discussed, along with the authors’ recommendation on suitable damping model given the hysteresis model.