Passive vibration damping in a truss telecommunication tower

A dynamic model of a truss telecommunication tower was developed. A viscoelastic absorber was proposed for reducing structural vibrations caused by wind. Small linear system vibrations were assumed. A finite element three-dimensional model was used to determine the damper viscoelastic parameters which guarantee the highest damping effectiveness. Simulation results indicate that a damper can reduce the amplitude of tower vibrations by half and produce a similar reduction in forces acting upon the most loaded members of the structure.