• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.269-283
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• 2022

In this paper, a particular type of all-steel HSS brace members with a locally reduced cross-sectional area was experimentally and numerically investigated. The brace member was strengthened against local buckling with inner and outer boxes in the reduced area. Four single-span braced frames were tested under cyclic lateral loadings. Specimens included a simple steel frame with a conventional box-shaped brace and three other all-steel reduced section buckling-restrained braces. After conducting the experimental program, numerical models of the proposed brace were developed and verified with experimental results. Then the length of the proposed fuse was increased and its effect on the cyclic behavior of the brace was investigated numerically. Eventually, the brace was detailed with a fuse-to-brace length of 30%, as well as the cross-sectional area of the fuse-to-brace of 30%, and the cyclic behavior of the system was studied numerically. The study showed that the proposed brace is stable up to a 2% drift ratio, and the plastic cumulative deformation requirement of AISC (2016) is easily achieved. The proposed brace has sufficient ductility and stability and is lighter, as well as easier to be fabricated, compared to the conventional mortar-filled BRB and all-steel BRB.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.745-757
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• 2018

The inclusion of a ductile steel bracing as means of repairing an earthquake-damaged bridge bent is evaluated and experimentally assessed for the purposes of restoring the damaged bent's strength and stiffness and further improving the energy dissipation capacity. The study is focused on substandard reinforced concrete multi-column bridge bents constructed in the 1950 to mid-1970 in the United States. These types of bents have numerous deficiencies making them susceptible to seismic damage. Large-scale experiments were used on a two-column reinforced concrete bent to impose considerable damage of the bent through increasing amplitude cyclic deformations. The damaged bent was then repaired by installing a ductile fuse steel brace in the form of a buckling-restrained brace in a diagonal configuration between the columns and using post-tensioned rods to strengthen the cap beam. The brace was secured to the bent using steel gusset plate brackets and post-installed adhesive anchors. The repaired bent was then subjected to increasing amplitude cyclic deformations to reassess the bent performance. A subassemblage test of a nominally identical steel brace was also conducted in an effort to quantify and isolate the ductile fuse behavior. The experimental data from these large-scale experiments were analyzed in terms of the hysteretic response, observed damage, internal member loads, as well as the overall stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics. The results of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of utilizing ductile steel bracing for restoring the bent and preventing further damage to the columns and cap beams while also improving the stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.169-180
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• 2015

Recently, Seismic performance of the building built in the past is required to review, because the code for seismic design have been reinforced. In 2009, if the revised latest criteria of seismic design is applied, the majority the steel structure of the low-rise concentrically braced system is short of the seismic performance. Also, when the steel braces are subject to compressive load, which causes unstable behavior of the structure. In order to verify the compressive behavior of the reinforced braces, structural performance test was conducted with variables of slenderness ratio and the amount of reinforcement. Therefore, this study suggests restraining the bending buckling of slender H-shaped braces to resist compressive force. In order to verify the compressive behavior of the reinforced braces, structural performance test was conducted with variables of slenderness ratio and the amount of reinforcement.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.201-211
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• 1997

A clearly consistent finite element formulation for geometrically non-linear analysis of space frames is presented by applying incremental equilibrium equations based on the updated Lagrangian formulation and introducing Vlasov's assumption. The improved displacement field for symmetric cross sections is introduced based on inclusion of second order terms of finite rotations, and the potential energy corresponding to the semitangential rotations and moments is consistently derived. For finite element analysis, elastic and geometric stiffness matrices of the space frame element are derived by using the Hermitian polynomials as shape functions. A co-rotational formulation in order to evaluate the unbalanced loads is presented by separating the rigid body rotations and pure deformations from incremental displacements and evaluating the updated direction cosines of the frame element due to rigid body rotations and incremental member forces from pure deformaions. Finite element solutions for the spatial buckling and post-buckling analysis of space frames are compared with available solutions and other researcher's results.