• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2009

In this study, the seismic performance of the Buckling Restrained Knee Bracing (BRKB) system was evaluated through a pin-connected one-bay, one-story frame. The BRKB system developed in this study was composed of a steel plate as a load-resisting core member and two channel sections to restrain local and global buckling of the core plate. The main purpose of the BRKB system is to restrengthen/rehabilitate old low- and mid-rise RC buildings, which, it is assumed, were designed with non-seismic designs and details. The main variables for the test specimens were the size of the core plates and the stiffeners, and the condition of the end plates. The test results showed that the size of the core plate, which was the main element of the load-resisting member, was the most important parameter in achieving a ductile behavior under tension as well as compression until the maximum displacement exceeds twice the design drift limit.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.37-46
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• 2009

In this study, the seismic performance of the Buckling Restrained Knee Bracing (BRKB) system was evaluated through a pin-connected 1-bay 1-story frame. The BRKB system using a bolted channel section developed was composed of a steel plate as a load-resisting core member and two channel sections as a restrainment of the local and global buckling of the core plate. The main purpose of the BRKB system is to be used as an effective tool to re-strengthen/rehabilitate old low- and mid-rise RC frame buildings, which do not have enough seismic resistance to earthquake loadings. The main variables for the test specimens were the size of the core plates, stiffeners and the use of guide plates. The test results showed that the size of the core plate, which was the main element for the load-resisting member, was the most important parameter to achieve ductile behavior under tension as well as compression, until the maximum displacement exceed twice the design drift limit given by the AISC Seismic Provisions.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.47-60
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• 2012

Based on the Korean Building Standard Law, a building less than 3-stories and $1000m^2$ in area is defined as a small-level building and, as a result, this type of building has been excluded from the requirement to comply with seismic design. In order to prevent the loss of life and property under earthquake loadings, the small-scale building should satisfy the seismic performance specified in the current code through a seismic retrofit. In this study, a seismic retrofit scheme of a Buckling-Restrained Knee Brace (BRKB) was developed for non-seismic 2-story steel buildings, including small-scale buildings, using a fragility contour method. In order to develop an effective retrofit scheme of the BRKB for the building, a total of 75 BRKB analytical models were used to achieve the desired performance levels and analyzed using the fragility contour method. The seismic performance of the retrofitted building was evaluated in terms of the weight of the developed BRKB systems. This study shows that the fragility contour method can be used for rapid evaluation and is an effective tool for structural engineers.