Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), NHERI 2022: Characterization Test of Pressurized Sand Damper Using the Bouc-Wen Model

The purpose of this project was to develop a numerical model to simulate the behavior of the energy dissipation device, the Pressurized Sand Damper (PSD). The model used to simulate it was the Bouc-Wen model which consists of eight parameters, from which only 4 of them are dependent on the collected data. Finally, the damper used was able to be put to the test through the model to validate its efficiency using the index values of displacement and acceleration reduction in a three-story building. The PSD represents the future of earthquake engineering as a low cost yet effective damper. Therefore, the objective of the created model is to be used as an accurate representation of the behavior of the actual PSD to put it to the test in researchs of different scenarios with different magnitudes.