> temp > à-trier > what-is-a-tuned-mass-damper-practical-engineering

What is a Tuned Mass Damper?

Practical Engineering - 2016-02-14

FAQ: 
(1) What's that physics simulation software called?
Algodoo (it's free!).
(2) Your music is no good. 
I didn't nail the mix on this video, but it is fixed on subsequent videos.
(3) I want to build my own. Where can I find plans?
This wasn't meant to be a "how-to" video, but I put some details about the model at this link: https://www.instructables.com/id/Tuned-Mass-Damper-Demonstration/

In many of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, there’s a secret device protecting the building and the people inside from strong motion due to wind and earthquakes. Did you know you can tune a skyscraper just like a guitar? In this Practical Engineering video, we’re comparing theory to the real world for tuned mass dampers.

Luckily this tech is simple enough that we can model it right in the garage. As silly as this little experiment looks, it’s actually not that far off from what engineers do in the real world (maybe without the googly eyes). The design phase for just about every major building includes some physical scale model tests. This video shows that the tuned mass damper is a great example of elegance in engineering.

Thanks for watching, and let me know what you think!

Aluminum parts for the cart and damper are actobotics. The accelerometer I used is the ADXL345 breakout board from Sparkfun. I filtered the x-axis data with a low-pass filter, then sent it via serial port to my laptop. I just copy the data from the serial monitor window and import into Microsoft Excel for the figures. For the figure animations, I wrote a custom macro and used a screenshot program to capture them as video.

I use all Patreon earnings to improve the quality (and quantity!) of videos: https://www.patreon.com/PracticalEngineering
Website: http://practical.engineering

Music: Valesco - Cloud 9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRa-eGzpT6o)

Practical Engineering - 2017-03-18

Headphone users beware :) I went a bit overboard with the music on this video. It is fixed in all other videos. Sorry about that, and thanks for watching!

Miron Draghici - 2020-01-29

:)))) i just red it after i went deaf.

LePonyOfHappiness - 2020-02-10

I wish I had seen this comment before fuck

G X - 2020-02-24

not to be rude, but do you think you could get some music that sounds a little bit more constructiony? or engineery? what you have is so trendy and generic...

å - 2020-03-03

Oh my god the music is loud. How did this happen?

Gadiyaram.venkata Phani Hrushikeash - 2020-03-12

I'm doing the same topic as my project
I need help from you with that
Electronic equipment and software (coding)
Please help me with this

SuperPickle15 - 2016-04-03

I wish real skyscrappers had googly eyes :(

Diamond Yoshi101 - 2019-09-06

Free Earthquake detection system

Flappy Boi - 2019-10-03

On it boss when i am rich enough i'll build a skyscraper with googly eyes just for you

Killian Conroy - 2019-12-17

if i make one i will give it googly eyes for you
you* 8D

X W - 2019-12-28

Look up "I am a building" for an important message from googly eye buildings

Killian Conroy - 2020-01-23

i have a messege for googly in side of a googly eye on buildings

tp7886 - 2019-03-15

That dubstep turned my walls into tuned mass dampers.

IanCaine4728 - 2019-05-14

Yeah, was not ready for the audio spikes this early AM.

Nicola Purvis Homewood - 2019-05-31

Great video, my 11 year old was so inspired she's basing her science fair project on it

Ed Sweet - 2019-11-07

Give her the A+ of greatness

Chesapeake - 2020-02-18

Aww

Frank - 2020-02-22

That’s amazing!!!

Daniel Wilson - 2020-02-19

"Usually without the googly eyes" ... implication: sometimes with the googly eyes

Kumquat Lord - 2018-07-15

I'm just annoyed you didn't show the waveform when the lamp fell over, that would have been fun to see

Travis Ryno - 2019-06-05

ME TOO!

Travis Ryno - 2019-06-05

@Rob Duquette ...Yeah ill bet he want recording... because that would have been interesting indeed

Canis Cerulean - 2019-09-09

@Braden Archer Everyone lived in harmony, until the PIXAR nation attacked!

JuiceMaker - 2020-02-20

He did tho, 6:10

John Peric - 2020-03-19

@Braden Archer
What do you think it would be? 5... maybe 6 meters tall? That would be massive!

Paul Mast - 2017-11-30

Video: "If you remember from your Physics classes..."

Me: "What Physics classes? Does he mean this video?"

Michael Schmidt - 2019-04-23

2:20 "Wednesday comes after Thursday"

phục êwê - 2019-08-23

If Friday isn't coming after Thursday, I quit.

Crazy Robots - 2019-10-05

Yeah. 6 days after.

Erik Oosterwal - 2019-11-13

He's been watching The Godfather. "I talk good English, 'Monday,' 'Tuesday,' 'Thursday,' 'Wednesday.'" 🤣 ...and then she dies in a terrible car explosion. 😥

Chris Sniffin - 2019-12-13

I knew someone else had to have heard that

bertjesklotepino - 2020-02-14

@Erik Oosterwal man........ such a loss.

thedrunkenpilot - 2017-11-29

Catherine ζ Jones

TOUZOUT Mohamed Amine - 2018-04-29

Great way to remember the damping ratio

Brain Mind - 2018-08-10

He had it coming.

42lookc - 2019-01-27

nyuk nyuk nyuk

Oh Asis - 2019-06-02

@Brain Mind So did Kirk D

Tucker Smith - 2017-12-10

Turn down the edm bub

Savage Salvage - 2019-05-18

Logan?

Jason G - 2020-03-08

Souljah Boy, crank that shit

BARCA double TREBLE sextruple - 2019-04-06

8:30 The conclusion is, no building can withstand massive timber fall eventhough they have mass damper installed...

Oneofthenine - 2018-12-23

I learned about Pendulums in school, but never seen their value more then a curiosity. Now it makes more sense as a practical sense. Thanks for the small piece of information.

MacIn173 - 2019-06-02

Well, what about demonstration/proof of earth rotation?

Christian Schwalbach - 2020-02-10

MacIn173 the certainly become useful in many measurement applications

Brian McCall - 2020-03-18

Clocks!

bibasik7 - 2018-03-04

8:22 WHAT? I don't want to be an engineer anymore.

Jared Kinard - 2019-03-05

Wednesdays definitely come BEFORE Thursdays

Gary Hawkins - 2019-04-22

Technically true that Wednesdays do come after Thursdays, until the end.

He Ka - 2016-05-29

The Taipei Tower looks like a stack of Chinese take away food boxes.

Brertt - 2018-05-07

Some people are trying to act smart even though they don’t know what a joke is

Brad 1 - 2018-12-23

and maybe it is?

James Rindley - 2018-12-25

@Chameleon Scheimong Actually takeaway food boxes are extensively used in Taiwan, albeit they're usually round rather than rectangular.

D. C. Worldwide Productions & Releasing - 2019-01-27

@Simon L Thank you

Geoffrey Waldo - 2019-07-02

It is!

xionix4 - 2019-03-27

"For our entire lives, Wednesdays come after Thursday..." <3

Travis Ryno - 2019-06-05

"Profoundly uncomfortable"? try "Utterly terrifying" lol

Foxnine Dragon - 2019-03-10

Can we harvest energy from those vibrations by using let say piezoelectric effect?

vurpo - 2019-08-22

Another thing to remember is that generating electricity from movement will dampen the movement of the object, which might make it less effective at its primary task.

Rohan Ahmed - 2019-12-24

Don't listen to the folks below, they are just fanatics and know little. Currently, dampers generates heat since a system that uses friction is easy to design.

There are several ways to use piezoelectrics to generate electricity. Back in engineering school, my colleagues developed a bike suspension capable of powering headlights. I don't know where they are in life now.

It is 100% possible, its just about the cost vs benefits.
And i don't see why the cost would be significantly large, since it is a building and buildings do experience high winds.

the concept is the same as regenerative brakes, what would normally be converted to heat, gets converted to electricity.

Word of advice, don't listen to people who pull numbers out of their a$$.

sneeze yt - 2020-03-04

@anand raj Disturbing climate eh? Come down to Florida during the hurricane season. Trust me!

anand raj - 2020-03-04

@sneeze yt certainly hurricanes cannot be tamed, that's why i said it'll be very small even if we could ..my second comment

altrag - 2020-03-13

@HollywoodF1 Hmm.. not necessarily. Depends on how much of that $500k goes into "design" and how much into "install." In particular, if most of that up front cost goes into design, say $400k of it, then you could potentially resell the design to other buildings. Then each building is looking at an up-front of only $100k and an annual net savings of $3k mean its paid back in ~33 years. Its still not a slam dunk, but for large buildings a 50- or 100-year (or even longer) expected lifespan is not unusual, so depending on any particular building's needs, they may have a long-term net gain from installing such a system and therefore a potential sales opportunity for whoever decided to invest that initial $400k.

its_me_isnt_it - 2019-08-06

My man, those music cuts! Please tune it down xD

Nincadalop - 2016-05-31

8:29, strange experiment. I didn't know engineers had to make sure their building were lamp proof.

Massimo O'Kissed - 2016-06-10

It was to simulate the effects of an errant Godzilla.

kristy Dozier - 2017-11-05

Oh my god. That was sooo funny!

K.D.P. Ross - 2017-12-31

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Brian Wyters - 2018-02-27

K.DP. Ross https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJpbVatJD4c

Insolentish - 2018-05-01

Bush did it

insert bad joke here - 2018-11-08

7:43
The rest of the schwang

bone-in pizza - 2020-03-20

Me: it's 2 am a need sleep.
Also me: hehe googly eyes

Jeremiah Rodgers - 2020-03-22

2:23 “Wednesdays come after Thursdays” great video though, lol

Andrew Rosemarying - 2018-05-08

"Sweet montage" *BASS DROP" I died xD I'm laughing so hard

Dave Witter - 2019-09-16

I just discovered you "Practical Engineering" channel. I have been to Taipei 101 and seen the Mass Damper on display. Civilization and Engineering stand on the shoulders of giants, each generation building on the knowledge of the past. Quality job on your explanation, well done.

Andria Marie - 2019-04-25

Neat. Makes perfect sense too. What a great way to answer questions I didn't know I had! I actually ran across your vids when I was looking for info on water flow for a irrigation system idea I had for my garden. P.S. Go ahead and shake the snot out of the 1%. It'd be good for them to experience a bit of real world discomfort.

Kasunsu Edger - 2020-02-20

"It may not be enough to affect the building's structure, but it may be enough to cause a 1%-ter on the top floor to loose his cavier."

Very strong reason.

Lil Criket - 2019-06-05

this background music tho

MTF Gamma-6 . Public - 2019-06-12

The 101 damper looks like an alternate version of SCP 106's chamber

Jeremy Smith - 2018-10-31

3:51
That was one of the most drawn out missions in saints row 3 but atleast you unlock oleg as a reward

MacIn173 - 2019-06-02

It is interesting, what would happened, if we added not one, but couple of pendulums. Like second one, tuned differently to absorb "the tail" of swinging sequence more efficiently.

Travis Ryno - 2019-06-05

Yeah like a secondary, lighter weight, less dampened pendulum
....and make it upside down-on top of the first!
...with a hot dog mascot

Jack Vonfeld - 2020-01-02

9:36. “A one percent-er on the top floor to lose his caviar... Hilarious! I love it.

Andrew Combs - 2016-06-21

I bet the googly eyes also act as dampers

Peer Larson - 2018-05-29

I want more googly eyed dampers on my buildings!

gorillaau - 2018-07-27

If the googly eye were the size of the pendulum (3.7 inches I think it way) and had some weight in them, then yeah. That might just work.

Lou Fazio - 2018-12-07

gorillaau But didn't it show that w/o dampening it only transfers the KE?

Mauro Molinero - 2018-12-17

Petition to put giant googly eyes on every building.

Dan - 2019-09-24

It is possible, just adjust the weight and it might just work

David - 2017-12-09

8:30 -life right when I think I’m getting my shit together.

NPC133 - 2020-03-15

Blew my mind when I found out as a kid that tall buildings sway in the wind and were designed to expect it
It was fun to see the science behind mitigating some of that force

Bill Ahlstrom - 2020-01-19

I had never heard of such a thing before watching this video. I love the subject of physics so this was really interesting. You did a very good job with the visuals. Thanks for posting this video.

Robert Sanchez - 2017-12-31

"Island of misfit mascots" made me a very happy panda

evmanbutts - 2019-03-09

Tuned Mass Damper is my favorite ELP song.

Ambuj Bhaskar - 2019-02-07

2:39 what you see when your relatives see you and grab your cheeks

Denis Laflamme - 2019-12-06

8:38 a video on this triangle would be very interesting!

AODestroyer12 I TF2 Gameplay - 2018-04-22

Thank you so much. This helped me in my CREST silver award science project - where i studied how skyscrapers dealed with earthquakes!

Yana Gavrishchuk - 2020-03-18

Thank you so much for creating this!This will definitely help me with my technology and engineering project:)

Nicolas Fredette - 2017-07-07

"Wednesday comes after Thursday"... really, how do you figure ?

Yoga Armuza - 2018-11-25

8:32 OOOH DUDEEE YOU MADE MY DAY LOL

david lange - 2020-03-17

My customers would love a mass dampener in their front load washer! There was a joint model between Samsung and Maytag, which used 4 springs and a steel solid mass. They mounted it on the very top. I don’t know why, more time wasn’t spent on design. The current design, is dampeners built into the front tub ring. Either thick fluid, which is why on some units sound like they still have water in them, or steel balls moving in opposing force. Front load washers have taken a beating cause of this issue. Thanks for the demo!

Alexander Khritonenkov - 2016-05-25

2:22 - "... for our entire lives Wednesdays come after Thursday..." - WOW! You definitely live an unusual life!

Golden Grenadier - 2017-02-15

Alexander Khritonenkov it technically does if the next week counts.

Thugasaurus Rex - 2017-03-15

Alexander Khritonenkov lol I thought i heard that too xD

AODestroyer12 I TF2 Gameplay - 2017-12-22

in defense, wednesday the 20th of december came after thursday the 14th :)

bertjesklotepino - 2018-01-08

thanks Einstein. My guess is that Golden Grenadier actually said the same thing.................
But always nice to have an example for those who can not use their own imagination >;)

Pokemonmaster190 - 2018-05-11

yeep

Jack Vonfeld - 2020-01-02

At minute 9:36 “It’s enough to cause a one percent-er on the top floor....”. Hilarious!

Fabio Fernandez - 2019-09-28

8:30 now I can't stop laughing thinking what a catastrophe it would be for a real skyscraper to just be hit by a massive LAMP...

Lester Bezuidenhout - 2019-05-23

8:22 maybe they do keep the googly eyes on? xD

David Prock - 2020-02-13

I live and work in a Semi Truck, I need one of these for my tractor and trailer... just kidding jk jk jk