Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of TLDs under Wave Loading

The objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the effectiveness of Tuned Liquid Dampers (TLDs) for suppressing the dynamic response of a platform structure subjected to wave loading and to explore the applicability of TLDs for suppressing the structural vibration of fixed offshore platforms. The experimental model is scaled according to a full size platform by matching its dynamic properties. Rectangular and circular TLDs of various sizes and water depths are examined. The experiments were performed in a 2-D wave flume. The effectiveness of TLDs is evaluated based on their response reduction. By observing the performance and the behavior of TLDs through laboratory experiments, the effects of a number of parameters including container shape, container size, number of dampers, frequency ratio, mass ratio, and incident wave characteristics are investigated.