• 한국안전학회지
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.104-111
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• 2018

System supports are widely used in concrete construction due to the convenience and structural safety at the point of both installation and dismantling. However, there were frequent collapses in the construction sites due to the absence of both structural review and brace installations. Therefore, this paper examines the importance of braces in the system supports. In order to examine the importance of the brace, four types of braces were considered: 100% braces, 50% braces, 25% braces, and without braces. The maximum displacement of the 100% braced model was 0.97 mm, the 50% braced model was 1.13 mm, the 25% braced model was 1.16 mm and the non-braced model was 24.3 mm, respectively. Compared to the model with the without-braces, the model with 100% of the braces installed has a displacement of 4.0%, the model with 50% of the braces showed a displacement of 4.7%, and the model with 25% of the braces appeared to be a displacement of 4.8%. That is, the installation of the braces is effective in reducing the maximum displacement of the system supports and is effective in reducing the maximum displacement with only small number of braces installed.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.233-247
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• 2007

The insertion of steel braces has become a common technique to limit the deformability of steel framed buildings subjected to wind loads. However, when this technique is inadequate to keep floor accelerations within acceptable levels of human comfort, dampers placed in series with the steel braces can be adopted. To check the effectiveness of braces equipped with viscoelastic (VEDs) or friction dampers (FRDs), a numerical investigation is carried out focusing attention on a three-bay fifteen-storey steel framed building with K-braces. More precisely, three alternative structural solutions are examined for the purpose of controlling wind-induced vibrations: the insertion of additional diagonal braces; the insertion of additional diagonal braces equipped with dampers; the insertion of both additional diagonal braces and dampers supported by the existing K-braces. Additional braces and dampers are designed according to a simplified procedure based on a proportional stiffness criterion. A dynamic analysis is carried out in the time domain using a step-by-step initial-stress-like iterative procedure. Along-wind loads are considered at each storey assuming the time histories of the wind velocity, for a return period $T_r=5$ years, according to an equivalent wind spectrum technique. The behaviour of the structural members, except dampers, is assumed linear elastic. A VED and an FRD are idealized by a six-element generalized model and a bilinear (rigid-plastic) model, respectively. The results show that the structure with damped additional braces can be considered, among those examined, the most effective to control vibrations due to wind, particularly the floor accelerations. Moreover, once the stiffness of the additional braces is selected, the VEDs are slightly more efficient than the FRDs, because they, unlike the FRDs, dissipate energy also for small amplitude vibrations.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.341-351
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• 2020

Steel plate shear wall with self-centering energy dissipation braces (SPSW-SCEDB) is a lateral force-resisting system that exhibits flag-shaped hysteretic responses, which consists of two pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) braces and a wall plate connected to horizontal boundary elements only. The present study conducted a series of cyclic tests to study the hysteretic performances of braces in SPSW-SCEDB and the effects of braces on the overall hysteretic characteristics of this system. The SPSW-SCEDB with PS-SCED braces only exhibits excellent self-centering capability and the energy loss caused by the large inclination angle of PS-SCED braces can be compensated by appropriately increasing the friction force. Under the combined effect of the two components, the SPSW-SCEDB exhibits a flag-shaped hysteretic response with large lateral resistance, good energy dissipation and self-centering capabilities. In addition, the wall plate is the primary energy dissipation component and the PS-SCED braces provide supplementary energy dissipation for system. The PS-SCED braces can provide up to 90% self-centering capability for the SPSW-SCEDB system. The compressive bearing capacity of the wall plate should be smaller than the horizontal remaining restoring force of the braces to achieve better self-centering effect of the system.

• 한국의류학회지
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.253-270
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• 2021

This survey provides research into developing knee braces to protect the knee against damage, reduce knee pain, and strengthen the knee. A total of 235 surveys were conducted from December 2019 to January 2020. The subjects were adults in their 20s and over who lived in the Seoul metropolitan area and had experience of using knee braces. In terms of age differences, subjects over 60 years of age purchased knee braces mostly to secure a reduction of pain (ROP), whereas subjects in their 20s and 30s purchased knee braces for physical shock protection (PSP). Subjects in their 40s and 50s purchased knee braces for improvement of muscle movement (IMM). There was no significant difference in shape, material, and locking method based on the reason for wearing the knee brace. These results show that it is conceivable and maybe preferable to produce different knee braces-with a variety of shapes, materials, and locking materials-according to the reason behind wearing a knee brace. Knee braces are worn currently without any differentiation despite the findings of this study. In particular, we argue the need for functional and differentiated development of knee braces specifically for PSP, ROP, and IMM.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.189-204
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• 2018

This paper examines the seismic responses of a reinforced concrete (RC) frame core-tube building with pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) braces. The PS-SCED brace system consists of friction devices for energy dissipation, pre-pressed combination disc springs for self-centering and tube members as guiding elements. A constitutive model of self-centering flag-shaped hysteresis for PS-SCED brace is developed to better simulate the seismic responses of the RC frame core-tube building with PS-SCED braces, which is also verified by the tests of two braces under low cyclic reversed loading. Results indicate that the self-centering and energy dissipation capabilities are well predicted by the proposed constitutive model of the PS-SCED brace. The structure with PS-SCED braces presents similar peak story drift ratio, smaller peak acceleration, smaller base shear force and much smaller residual deformations as compared to the RC frame core-tube building with bucking-restrained braces (BRBs).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.1227-1250
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• 2016

Most of the research work has been conducted on K-joints under static loading. Very limited information is available in consideration of fatigue strength of K-joints with concrete-filled chord. This paper aims to describe experimental and numerical investigations on stress concentration factors (SCFs) of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints under balanced axial loading. Experiment was conducted to study the hot spot stress distribution along the intersection of chord and braces in the two specimens with compacting concrete filled in the chord. The test results of stress distribution curves of two specimens were reported. SCFs of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints were lower than those of corresponding hollow circular chord and square brace K-joints. The corresponding finite element analysis was also conducted to simulate stress distribution along the brace and chord intersection region of joints. It was achieved that experimental and finite element analysis results had good agreement. Therefore, an extensive parametric study was carried out by using the calibrated finite element model to evaluate the effects of main geometric parameters and concrete strength on the behavior of concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints under balanced axial loading. The SCFs at the hot spot locations obtained from ABAQUS were compared with those calculated by using design formula given in the CIDECT for hollow SHS-SHS K-joints. CIDECT Design Guide was generally quite conservative for predicting SCFs of braces and was dangerous for predicting SCFs of chord in concrete-filled circular chord and square braces K-joints. Finally SCF formulae were proposed for circular chord and square braces K-joints with concrete-filled in the chord under balanced axial loading. It is shown that the SCFs calculated from the proposed design equation are generally in agreement with the values derived from finite element analysis, which were proved to be reliable and accurate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.217-228
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• 2017

Braces are one of the retrofitting systems of structure under earthquake loading. Buckling restrained braces (BRBs) are one of the very efficient braces for lateral loads. One of the key needs for a desirable and acceptable behavior of buckling-restraining brace members under intensive loading is that it prevents total buckling until the bracing member tolerates enough plastic deformation and ductility. This paper presents the results of a set of analysis by finite element method on buckling restrained braces in which the filler materials within the restraining member have been removed. These braces contain core as the conventional BRBs, but they have a different buckling restrained system. The purpose of this analysis is conducting a parametric study on various empty spaces between core and restraining member, the effect of friction between core and restraining member and applying initial deformation to brace system to investigate the global buckling behavior of these braces. The results of analysis indicate that the flexural stiffness of restraining member, regardless of the amount of empty space, can influence the global buckling behavior of brace significantly.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.1581-1598
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• 2015

A concentric braced steel frame is a very efficient structural system because it requires relatively smaller amount of materials to resist lateral forces. However, primarily developed as a structural system to resist wind loads based on an assumption that the structure behaves elastically, a concentric braced frame possibly experiences the deterioration in energy dissipation after brace buckling and the brittle failure of braces and connections when earthquake loads cause inelastic behavior. Consequently, plastic deformation is concentrated in the floor where brace buckling occurs first, which can lead to the rupture of the structure. This study suggests reinforcing H-shaped braces with non-welded cold-formed stiffeners to restrain flexure and buckling and resist tensile force and compressive force equally. Weak-axis reinforcing members (2 pieces) developed from those suggested in previous studies (4 pieces) were used to reinforce the H-shaped braces in an inverted V-type braced frame. Monotonic loading tests, finite element analysis and cyclic loading tests were carried out to evaluate the structural performance of the reinforced braces and frames. The reinforced braces satisfied the AISC requirement. The reinforcement suggested in this study is expected to prevent the rupture of beams caused by the unbalanced resistance of the braces.

• 한국지진공학회논문집
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.165-172
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• 2022

This study is conducted to verify the seismic reinforcement effects of internally inserted buckling-restrained braces supported laterally by buckling-restrained rings for the seismic reinforcement of existing reinforced concrete buildings with non-seismic details. First, to evaluate the performance of KDS, the hysteretic characteristics of buckling-restrained braces are verified, and it is discovered that they satisfy the conformance criteria of the displacement-dependent damping device. Three full-scale, two-story reinforced concrete framework specimens are prepared to verify the seismic reinforcement effects, and the proposed buckling-restrained braces are bolstered with single diagonal and V-shaped braces to be compared with non-reinforced specimens. By performing a comparison with non-reinforced specimens that present intensive shear cracks at the bottom of first-floor columns, it is revealed that the maximum load and energy dissipation of specimens reinforced with the proposed buckling restrained braces, in which the structural damage extends evenly throughout the system, are approximately 4 and 6.2 times higher, respectively, which proves the effectiveness of the proposed seismic reinforcement method.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.85-108
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• 2013

The research presented in this paper deals with the seismic protection of existing frame structures by means of passive energy dissipation. A displacement-based procedure to design dissipative bracings for the seismic protection of frame structures is proposed and some applications are discussed. The procedure is based on the displacement based design using the capacity spectrum method, no dynamic non linear analyses are needed. Two performance objective have been considered developing the procedure: protect the structure against structural damage or collapse and avoid non-structural damage as well as excessive base shear. The compliance is obtained dimensioning dissipative braces to limit global displacements and interstorey drifts. Reference is made to BRB braces, but the procedure can easily be extended to any typology of dissipative brace. The procedure has been validated through a comparison with nonlinear dynamic response of two 2D r.c. frames, one bare and one infilled. Finally a real application, on an existing 3D building where dissipative braces available on market are used, is discussed.