• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.391-416
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• 2018

The purpose of this article is to strengthen concrete structures using buckling and non-buckling braces. Connection plates are modeled in three shapes including the effect of 1.5t hinge zone length, 2t one and without the zone (1.5t-CP, 2t-CP and WCP). According to the verification performed with ABAQUS software, the connection plates which are superior in ductility and strengthening are found. The results show adding steel braces in concrete moment frames increase the strength and stiffness of the structures up to about 12 and 3 times, respectively. The frame strength increased about 21 and 25 percent with considering the effect of 2t hinge length in connection plates compared to 1.5t-CPs and WCPs. Also the ductility of retrofitted frames with 2t-CP improved 2.06 times more than WCP ones. Thus, 2t-CP sample is the best choice for connecting steel braces to concrete moment frames for retrofitting them. Afterwards, optimum conditions for elemental coating in braces with no buckling are assessed. The length of concrete coatings could be reduced about 30 percent, and buckling did not occur. Therefore, the weight of restraining coating decreased, and its performance improved. It is worth noting that BRBs could be constructed with only steel materials, which have outer steel tubes too. In fact, only the square cross sections of the tube profiles are appropriate for removing the filler concrete, and the rectangular ones are prone to buckle around their weak axis.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.191-197
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• 2006

In this paper 35- and 72-story tube system and trussed tube system were designed and their seismic performances were evaluated by nonlinear static analysis. According to the analysis results, the tube system structures retained high stiffness and strength; however they showed brittle failure mode due to the yielding of columns. In the case of trussed tube system, columns in the side-side buckled first followed by the buckling of the braces. When buckling-restrained braces were applied, plastic hinges formed in the lower stories gradually spreads to the higher stories, resulting in ductile behavior.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.63-69
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• 2003

In this study seismic design procedure for buckling-restrained braced frame systems was proposed using hysteretic energy spectrum and accumulated ductility spectrum constructed from single degree of freedom systems. The hysteretic energy spectra and accumulated ductility spectra corresponding to target ductility ratio were constructed first. The cross-sectional area of braces required to meet a given target displacement was obtained by equating the hysteretic energy demand to the accumulated plastic energy dissipated by braces. Twenty earthquake records were utilized to construct the spectra and to verify the validity of the design procedure. According to analysis results of three- and eight-story buckling-restrained braced frame structures designed using the proposed method, the mean values for the top story displacement correspond well with the given performance target displacements. Also, the inter-story drifts turned out to be relatively uniform over the structure height, which is desirable because uniform inter-story drifts indicate uniform damage distribution. Therefore if was concluded that the proposed energy-based method could be a reliable alternative to conventional strength-based design procedure for structures with buckling-restrained braces.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.261-284
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• 2009

The seismic behavior of a framed structure with chevron-type buckling restrained braces was investigated and their behavior factors, such as overstrength, ductility, and response modification factors, were evaluated. Two types of structures, building frame systems and dual systems, with 4, 8, 12, and 16 stories were designed per the IBC 2003, the AISC LRFD and the AISC Seismic Provisions. Nonlinear static pushover analyses using two different loading patterns and incremental dynamic analysis using 20 earthquake records were carried out to compute behavior factors. Time history analyses were also conducted with another 20 earthquakes to obtain dynamic responses. According to the analysis results, the response modification factors turned out to be larger than what is proposed in the provision in low-rise structures, and a little smaller than the code-values in the medium-rise structures. The dual systems, even though designed with smaller seismic load, showed superior static and dynamic performances.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.487-498
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• 2018

Buckling-restrained braces are passive control devices with high level of energy dissipation ability. However, they suffer from low post-yield stiffness which makes them vulnerable to severe ground motions, especially near-field earthquakes. Among the several methods proposed to improve resistance of BRB frames, mega-brace configuration can be a solution to increase frame lateral strength and stiffness and improve distribution of forces to prevent large displacement in braces. Due to the limited number of research regarding the performance of such systems, the current paper aims to assess seismic performance of BRB frames with mega-bracing arrangement under near-field earthquakes via a detailed probabilistic framework. For this purpose, a group of multi-story mega-BRB frames were modelled by OpenSEES software platform. In the first part of the paper, simplified procedures including nonlinear pushover and Incremental Dynamic Analysis were conducted for performance evaluation. Two groups of near-fault seismic ground motions (Non-pulse and Pulse-like records) were considered for analyses to take into account the effects of record-to-record uncertainties, as well as forward directivity on the results. In the second part, seismic reliability analyses are conducted in the context of performance based earthquake engineering. Two widely-known EDP-based and IM-based probabilistic frameworks are employed to estimate collapse potential of the structures. Results show that all the structures can successfully tolerate near-field earthquakes with a high level of confidence level. Therefore, mega-bracing configuration can be an effective alternative to conventional BRB bracing to withstand near-field earthquakes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2018

Concentric braced frames are commonly used in steel structures to withstand lateral forces. One of the drawbacks of these systems is the possibility that the braces are buckled under compressive loads, which leads to sudden reduction of the bearing capacity of the structure. To overcome this deficiency, the idea of the Buckling Restrained Brace (BRB) has been proposed in recent years. The length of a BRB steel core can have a significant effect on its overall behavior, since it directly influences the energy dissipation capability of the member. In this study, numerical methods have been utilized for investigation of the optimum length of BRB steel cores. For this purpose, BRBs with different lengths placed into several two-dimensional framing systems with various heights were considered. Then, the Response History Analysis (RHA) was performed, and finally, the optimum steel core length of BRBs and its effect on the responses of the overall system were investigated. The results show that the shortest length where failure does not occur is the best length that can be proposed as the optimum steel core length of BRBs. This length can be obtained through a formula which has been derived and verified in this study by both analytical and numerical methods.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.661-678
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• 2015

Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB) have been widely used in the construction industry as they utilize the most desirable properties of both constituent materials, i.e., steel and concrete. They present excellent structural qualities such as high load bearing capacity, ductility, energy-absorption capability and good structural fire behaviour. The effects of size and type of filler material in the existed gap at the steel core-concrete interface as well as the element's cross sectional shape, on BRB's fire resistance capacity was investigated in this paper. A nonlinear sequentially-coupled thermal-stress three-dimensional model was presented and validated by experimental results. Variation of the samples was described by three groups containing, the steel cores with the same cross section areas and equal yield strength but different materials (metal and concrete) and sizes for the gap. Responses in terms of temperature distribution, critical temperature, heating elapsed time and contraction level of BRB element were examined. The study showed that the superior fire performance of BRB was obtained by altering the filler material in the gap from metal to concrete as well as by increasing the size of the gap. Also, cylindrical BRB performed better under fire conditions compared to the rectangular cross section.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.703-716
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• 2018

In this study, the different energy demands in reinforced concrete (RC) wall piers, coupled by buckling restrained braces (BRBs), are investigated. As well as this, a single plastic hinge approach (SPH) and an extended plastic hinge (EPH) approach is considered for the wall piers. In the SPH approach, plasticity can extend only in the 0.1H adjacent to the wall base while, in the EPH approach, the plasticity can extend anywhere in the wall. The seismic behavior of 10-, 20- and 30-storey structures, subjected to near-fault (NF) as well as far-fault (FF) earthquakes, is studied with respect to the energy concepts involved in each storey. Different kinds of energy, including inelastic, damping, kinetic, elastic and total input energy demand, are investigated. The energy contribution from the wall piers, as well as the BRBs in each model, are studied. On average, for EPH approach, the inelastic demand portion pertaining to the BRBs for NF and FF records, is more than 60 and 80%, respectively. In the SPH approach, these ratios are 77 and 90% for the NF and FF events, respectively. It appears that utilizing the BRBs as energy dissipation members between two wall piers is an efficient concept.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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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.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2009

Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) show good seismic behavior. They do not dissipate energy, however, when they are subjected to minor earthquakes or wind. Hybrid Buckling Restrained Braces (H-BRBs), which can improve the wind performance of the BRB system, are a kind of hybrid damper system composed of a viscoelastic damper and BRBs. In this paper, two H-BRB specimens with different cores were experimentally investigated to ensure the structural behavior of the H-BRB system in an elastic range. The axial deformation of the primary resisting system was compared with that of the secondary resisting system, and the equivalent damping ratio of the H-BRBs was estimated. It was concluded that H-BRBs with double shear dampers show good structural behavior and are applicable to tall buildings, to improve the building performance at a comfortable level.