Closed-form formulas for the optimal pole-based design of tuned mass dampers

This paper deals with the analysis and optimization of tuned mass dampers (TMDs). It provides design formulas for maximizing the exponential time-decay rate (ETDR) of the system transient response. A detailed analysis is presented for the classical TMD configuration, involving an auxiliary mass attached to the main structure by means of a spring and a dashpot. Analytic expressions of the optimal ETDR are obtained for any mass ratio and tuning condition. Then, a further optimization with respect to the latter is performed. The proposed method is applied also to other TMD configurations involving an auxiliary mass connected to both the main structure and the ground, as well as to a piezoelectric damping device. A justification to the well-known heuristic optimality condition based on the enforcement of coincident couples of complex conjugate poles is presented. That condition is shown, however, to fail in providing optimal solutions for some mass ratio values and/or TMD configurations, and the optimality conditions prevailing in those cases are derived. The present analysis, besides its theoretical interest, may be useful in practical applications, e.g., to assess the sensitivity of the optimal ETDR with respect to the design parameters or to promptly adjust some of those parameters during service, after any variation of the operative conditions.