• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.293-318
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• 2023

This study aims to examine the elastic stiffness properties of Elliptic-Braced Moment Resisting Frame (EBMRF) subjected to lateral loads. Installing the elliptic brace in the middle span of the frames in the facade of a building, as a new lateral bracing system not only it can improve the structural behavior, but it provides sufficient space to consider opening it needed. In this regard, for the first time, an accurate theoretical formulation has been developed in order that the elastic stiffness is investigated in a two-dimensional single-story single-span EBMRF. The concept of strain energy and Castigliano's theorem were employed to perform the analysis. All influential factors were considered, including axial and shearing loads in addition to the bending moment in the elliptic brace. At the end of the analysis, the elastic lateral stiffness could be calculated using an improved relation through strain energy method based on geometric properties of the employed sections as well as specifications of the utilized materials. For the ease of finite element (FE) modeling and its use in linear design, an equivalent element was developed for the elliptic brace. The proposed relation was verified by different examples using OpenSees software. It was found that there is a negligible difference between elastic stiffness values derived by the developed equations and those of numerical analysis using FE method.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2013

This research presents that seismic performance of steel moment resisting frame building designed by past provision(UBC, Uniform Building Code) before and after retrofitted with BRB (Buckling-Restrained Brace) was evaluated using response modification factor (R-factor). In addition, the seismic performance of the retrofitted past building was compared with that specified in current provision. The past building considered two different connections: bilinear connection, which was used by structural engineer for building design, and brittle connection observed in past earthquakes. The nonlinear pushover analysis and time history analysis were performed for the analytical models considered in this study. The R-factor was calculated based on the analytical results. When comparing the R-factor of the current provision with the calculated R-factor, the results were different due to the hysteresis characteristics of the connection types. After retrofitted with BRBs, the past buildings with the bilinear connection were satisfied with the seismic performance of the current provision. However, the past buildings with the brittle connection was significantly different with the R-factor of the current provision.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.197-207
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• 2013

This study is aimed at developing the structural design interface module for the brace connections in order to improve the efficiency of the interoperability between structural design and BIM modeling at the construction design phase of steel structures. For this purpose, structural design module is first established according to the algorithm built by structural design standards of domestic and foreign. Then, it is developed interface module which can export the data of 3D model obtained from the BIM design tools to structural design module and feed structural design results back to 3D BIM model. Finally, the efficiency and practicality of the developed interface module is verified by applying to a sample model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2019

A modified mechanical model of pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) brace is proposed, and the hysteresis band is distinguished by the indication of relevant state variables. The MDOF frame system equipped with the braces is formulated in an incremental form of linear acceleration method. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) based brace parameter optimization method is developed to obtain an optimal solution from the primary design scheme. Parameter sensitivities derived by the direct differentiation method are used to modify the change rate of parameters in the GA operator. A case study is conducted on a steel braced frame to illustrate the effect of brace parameters on node displacements, and validate the feasibility of the modified mechanical model. The optimization results and computational process information are compared among three cases of different strategies of parameter change as well. The accuracy is also verified by the calculation results of finite element model. This work can help the applications of PS-SCED brace optimization related to parameter sensitivity, and fulfill the systematic design procedure of PS-SCED brace-structure system with completed and prospective consequences.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.129-136
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• 2005

Concentrically braced steel frames are considered as being quite prone to soft-story response due to the degradation in brace compressive resistance after buckling under severe ground motions. When combined with the system P-Delta effects, collapse of the concentrically braced frames by dynamic instability becomes a highly probable. In this study, a new, relatively simple dynamic instability coefficient was proposed for diagonally braced steel frames by considering the strength degradation of the brace after buckling. Nonlinear dynamic analysis was conducted to check the robustness of the proposed index based on simulated ground motions. The analysis results showed that the dynamic instability index proposed predicts the collapse potential more consistently than the conventional one. Dynamic instability was triggered when the index value was close to 0.7.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.6 s.73
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• pp.759-768
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• 2004

The parametric analysis of vertically braced steel pipe arch ribs was performed to evaluate their in-plane buckling strengths and ultimate load-carrying capacities. The elastic and plastic behavior of braced arch ribs, unlike those of the usual single arch ribs, are affected by such factors as the flexural rigidity of the brace member, brace and pipe ribs spacing, loading situation, and arch curvature. To analyze these effects, several parameters were included, such as the rise-to-span ratio, the second moment of the inertia ratio of the rib to the brace member, the space ratio of the brace, the space ratio of the upper and lower ribs, the initial crookedness, the slenderness ratios of the braced arch ribs, and the loading conditions were considered with live-load-to-dead-load ratios. Based on the results of the parametric analyses, a proper profile of the braced arch rib was proposed. A large-scale structural experiment was also performed to evaluate the ultimate strength of the braced arch rib. The test results were determined to reasonably coincide with the analytical ones.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.265-272
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• 2000

Unbond brace hysteretic dampers are generally used to prevent or decrease structural damage in buildings subjected to strong earthquake by its energy dissipating hysteretic behavior. According to a previous research, the optimum ratio of device yield strength to story yield strength of the combined system has been identified as the most important parameter for characterizing the performance of this device. In this research, the validity and the applicability of the previous research has been investigated and a new approach has been proposed through earthquake response analysis of a steel structure installed with unbond brace type hysteretic damper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.301-310
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• 2017

For further development of passive control systems to dissipate larger seismic energy and prevent the structures from earthquake losses, this paper proposes an innovative two-level control system to improve behavior of chevron braced steel frames. Combining two Knee Braces, KB, and a Vertical Link Beam, VLB, in a chevron braced frame, this system can reliably sustain main shock and aftershocks in steel structures. The performance of this two-level system is examined through a finite element analysis and quasi-static cyclic loading test. The cyclic performances of VLB and KBs alone in chevron braced frames are compared with that of the presented two-level control system. The results show appropriate performance of the proposed system in terms of ductility and energy dissipation in two different excitation levels. The maximum load capacity of the presented system is about 30% and 17% higher than those of the chevron braced frames with KB and VLB alone, respectively. In addition, the maximum energy dissipation of the proposed system is about 78% and 150% higher than those of chevron braced frames with VLB and KB respectively under two separate levels of lateral forces caused by different probable seismic excitations. Finally, high performance under different earthquake levels with competitive cost and quick installation work for the control system can be found as main advantages of the presented system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.683-695
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• 2022

Conventional braces are often used to provide stiffness to structures; however due to buckling they cannot be used as seismic energy dissipating elements. In this study, a seismic energy dissipation device is proposed which is comprised of a bracing member and a steel hysteretic damper made of steel hexagonal plates. The hexagonal shaped designated fuse causes formation of plastic hinges under axial deformation of the brace. The main advantages of this damper compared to conventional metallic dampers and buckling-restrained braces are the stable and controlled energy dissipation capability with ease of manufacture. The mechanical behavior of the damper is formulated first and a design procedure is provided. Next, the theoretical formulation and the efficiency of the damper are verified using finite element (FE) analyses. An analytical model of the damper is established and its efficiency is further investigated by applying it to seismic retrofit of a case study structure. The seismic performance of the structure is evaluated before and after retrofit in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio, top story displacement, residual displacement, and energy dissipation of dampers. Overall, the median of maximum interstory drift ratios is reduced from 3.8% to 1.6% and the residual displacement decreased in the x-direction which corresponds to the predominant mode shape of the structure. The analysis results show that the developed damper can provide cost-effective seismic protection of structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.523-537
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• 2023

This paper proposed a new self-centering brace (SCB), which consists of four post-tensioned (PT) high strength steel strands and energy absorbing steel plate (EASP) clusters. First, analytical equations were derived to describe the working principle of the SCB. Then, to investigate the hysteretic performance of the SCB, four full-size specimens were manufactured and subjected to the same cyclic loading protocol. One additional specimen using only EASP clusters was also tested to highlight the contribution of PT strands. The test parameters varied in the testing process included the thickness of the EASP and the number of EASP in each cluster. Testing results shown that the SCB exhibited nearly flag-shape hysteresis up to expectation, including excellent recentering capability and satisfactory energy dissipating capacity. For all the specimens, the ratio of the recovered deformation is in the range of 89.6% to 92.1%, and the ratio of the height of the hysteresis loop to the yielding force is in the range of 0.47 to 0.77. Finally, in order to further understand the mechanism of the SCB and provide additional information to the testing results, the high-fidelity finite element (FE) models were established and the numerical results were compared against the experimental data. Good agreement between the experimental, numerical, and analytical results was observed, and the maximum difference is less than 12%. Parametric analysis was also carried out based on the validated FE model to evaluate the effect of some key parameters on the cyclic behavior of the SCB.