Equivalent damping of MDOF dissipation structures with Maxwell dampers

The complete analytical methods for equivalent damping ratio of arbitrary MDOF dissipation structures with supporting brace and Maxwell dampers are studied systematically. The general dynamic integral-differential earthquake response equations of dissipation structures are firstly established, then by the equivalent criterion of which all random response characteristics are same in the meaning of MDOF stochastic averaging analysis, the general analytical formulas of every modal equivalent damping ratio of dissipation structures are established, which make it possibility of response spectrum technique for dissipation structure. Finally, it is verified that the proposed methods are effective through accuracy in comparison with Modal Strain Energy method for some typical problems, so the complete analytical methods for equivalent damping of foregoing MDOF dissipation structures are established.