• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.77-91
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• 2011

This study experimentally evaluated the seismic performance of steel knee braced frame structures with energy dissipation mechanism. A series of cyclic load tests were conducted on the steel moment resisting frames and the proposed knee braced frames. Test results validated that the demand in the beam-to-column connection designs was alleviated by the proposed design method. Test results also showed that the strength and stiffness of the proposed design were effectively enhanced. Comparisons in energy dissipation between the steel moment resisting frames and the steel knee braced frames further justified the applicability of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.171-180
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• 2005

In this study the seismic performance of a three-story knee-braced moment-resisting frame (KBMRF), which is typically employed to support pipelines for oil or gas, was investigated. Nonlinear static pushover analyses were performed first to observe the force-displacement relationship of KBMRF under increasing seismic load. The results show that, when the maximum inter-story drift reached 1.5% of the story height, the main structural members, such as beams and columns, still remained elastic. Then nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses were carried out using eight earthquake ground motion time-histories scaled to at the design spectrum of UBC-97. It turned out that the maximum inter-story drift was smaller than the drift limit of 1.5 % of the structure height, and that the columns remained elastic. Based on these analytical results, it can be concluded that the seismic performance of the structure satisfies all the requirements regulated in the seismic code.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-191
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• 2020

In this article, for the first time, the seismic behavior of elliptic-braced moment resisting frame (ELBRF) is assessed through a laboratory program and numerical analyses of FEM specifically focused on the development of global- and local-type failure mechanisms. The ELBRF as a new lateral braced system, when installed in the middle bay of the frames in the facade of a building, not only causes no problem to the opening space of the facade, but also improves the structural behavior. Quantitative and qualitative investigations were pursued to find out how elliptic braces would affect the failure mechanism of ELBRF structures exposed to seismic action as a nonlinear process. To this aim, an experimental test of a ½ scale single-story single-bay ELBRF specimen under cyclic quasi-static loading was run and the results were compared with those for X-bracing, knee-bracing, K-bracing, and diamond-bracing systems in a story base model. Nonlinear FEM analyses were carried out to evaluate failure mechanism, yield order of components, distribution of plasticity, degradation of structural nonlinear stiffness, distribution of internal forces, and energy dissipation capacity. The test results indicated that the yield of elliptic braces would delay the failure mode of adjacent elliptic columns and thus, help tolerate a significant nonlinear deformation to the point of ultimate failure. Symmetrical behavior, high energy absorption, appropriate stiffness, and high ductility in comparison with the conventional systems are some of the advantages of the proposed system.