Determination of the Vibratory Damping Ratio: A Methodological Review

The chapter devoted to making such conclusion is critical and crucial for protecting structures and people during an earthquake. This chapter seeks to clarify the different mathematical and physical theorems connected to the creation of literal expressions, popularize the techniques for calculating the vibratory damping ratio, and make these techniques more accessible. The damping ratio is a dimensionless measure describing how oscillations in a system decay after a disturbance. Many systems exhibit oscillatory behavior when they are disturbed from their position of static equilibrium. Vibration damping is an essential parameter to reduce the dynamic responses of structures. Among the main methods studied in this chapter, the free vibration attenuation method seems to be easy to implement but requires a state-of-the-art device to capture the responses. In addition to this device, the other methods require other equipment for the vibration of the system and the transformation of the responses in the frequency domain.