• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.341-351
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• 2020

Steel plate shear wall with self-centering energy dissipation braces (SPSW-SCEDB) is a lateral force-resisting system that exhibits flag-shaped hysteretic responses, which consists of two pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) braces and a wall plate connected to horizontal boundary elements only. The present study conducted a series of cyclic tests to study the hysteretic performances of braces in SPSW-SCEDB and the effects of braces on the overall hysteretic characteristics of this system. The SPSW-SCEDB with PS-SCED braces only exhibits excellent self-centering capability and the energy loss caused by the large inclination angle of PS-SCED braces can be compensated by appropriately increasing the friction force. Under the combined effect of the two components, the SPSW-SCEDB exhibits a flag-shaped hysteretic response with large lateral resistance, good energy dissipation and self-centering capabilities. In addition, the wall plate is the primary energy dissipation component and the PS-SCED braces provide supplementary energy dissipation for system. The PS-SCED braces can provide up to 90% self-centering capability for the SPSW-SCEDB system. The compressive bearing capacity of the wall plate should be smaller than the horizontal remaining restoring force of the braces to achieve better self-centering effect of the system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1205-1219
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• 2016

This paper presents a new type of pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) bracing system that combines friction mechanisms between the inner and outer tube members to provide the energy dissipation with the pre-pressed combination disc springs installed on both ends of the brace to provide the self-centering capability. The mechanics and the equations governing the design and hysteretic responses of the bracing system are outlined, and a series of validation tests of components comprising the self-centering mechanism of combination disc springs, the friction energy dissipation mechanism, and a large scale PS-SCED bracing specimen were conducted due to the low cyclic reversed loadings. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed bracing system performs as predicted by the equations governing its mechanical behaviors, which exhibits a stable and repeatable flag-shaped hysteretic response with excellent self-centering capability and appreciable energy dissipation, and large ultimate bearing and deformation capacities. Results also show that almost no residual deformation occurs when the friction force is less than the initial pre-pressed force of disc springs.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.189-204
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• 2018

This paper examines the seismic responses of a reinforced concrete (RC) frame core-tube building with pre-pressed spring self-centering energy dissipation (PS-SCED) braces. The PS-SCED brace system consists of friction devices for energy dissipation, pre-pressed combination disc springs for self-centering and tube members as guiding elements. A constitutive model of self-centering flag-shaped hysteresis for PS-SCED brace is developed to better simulate the seismic responses of the RC frame core-tube building with PS-SCED braces, which is also verified by the tests of two braces under low cyclic reversed loading. Results indicate that the self-centering and energy dissipation capabilities are well predicted by the proposed constitutive model of the PS-SCED brace. The structure with PS-SCED braces presents similar peak story drift ratio, smaller peak acceleration, smaller base shear force and much smaller residual deformations as compared to the RC frame core-tube building with bucking-restrained braces (BRBs).

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.331-336
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• 2008

An self-centering energy-dissipative (SCED) bracing system has recently been developed as a new seismic force resistant bracing system. The advantage of the SCED brace system is that, unlike other comparable advanced bracing systems that dissipate energy, such as the buckling restrained brace system, it has a self-centering capability that reduces or eliminates residual building deformations after major seismic events. In this study seismic performance of SCED braced frames is evaluated for a set of 20 design level earthquake records. According to analysis results the SCED systems showed more uniform interstory drift demand for buildings with 8 story or fewer. The residual deformation in SCED buildings turned out to be much less than that of moment-resisting frames.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 2019

The force-deformation behavior, strain distribution and failure modes of a variable damping self-centering brace (VD-SCB) are theoretically analyzed, experimentally studied, and numerically simulated to guide its design. The working principle of the brace is explained by describing the working stages and the key feature points of the hysteretic curve. A large-scale brace specimen was tested under different sinusoidal excitations to analyze the recentering capability and energy dissipation. Results demonstrate that the VD-SCB exhibits a full quasi-flag-shaped hysteretic response, high ultimate bearing capacity, low activation force and residual deformation, and excellent recentering and energy dissipation capabilities. Calculation equations of the strain distribution in different parts of the brace are proposed and are compared with the experimental data and simulated results. The developments of two failure modes are compared. Under normal circumstances, the brace fails due to the yielding of the spring blocking plates, which are easily replaced to restore the normal operating conditions of the brace. A brief description of the design procedure of the brace is proposed for application.

• 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.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 2022

In most self-center braces, decreasing residual deformation is possible only by increasing pretension force, which results in lower energy dissipation capacity. On the other hand, increasing energy dissipation capacity means higher values of residual deformation. The goal of this research was to find the best design for a self-centering buckling restrained brace (SC-BRB) system by balancing self-centering capability and energy dissipation. Three, six, and nine-story structures were investigated using OpenSees software and the TCL programming language to achieve this goal. For each height, 62 different SC-BRBs were considered using different values for the pretension force of cables, the area of the buckling restrained brace (BRB) core plate, and the yield stress of the core plate. The residual deformation and dissipated energy of all the models were calculated using nonlinear analyses after cyclic loading was applied. The optimum design for each height was determined among all the models and was compared to the structure equipped with the usual BRB. The residual deformation of the framed buildings was significantly reduced, according to the findings. Also the reduction of the energy dissipation was acceptable. The optimum design of SC-BRB in 6-story building has the most reduction percent in residual deformation, it can reduce residual deformation of building 83% while causing only a 57% of reduction in dissipated energy. The greatest reduction in residual deformation versus dissipated energy reduction was for the optimum SC-BRB design of 9-story building, results indicated that it can reduce residual deformation of building 69% while causing only a 42% of reduction in dissipated energy.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.35-44
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• 2008

A self-centering energy-dissipative(SCED) bracing system has recently been developed as a new seismic force resistant bracing system. The advantage of the SCED brace system is that, unlike other comparable advanced bracing systems that dissipate energy such as the buckling restrained brace(BRB) system, it has a self-centering capability that reduces or eliminates residual building deformations after major seismic events. In order to investigate the effects of torsion on the SCED brace and BRB systems, nonlinear time history analyses were used to compare the responses of 3D model structures with three different amounts of frame eccentricity. The results of the analysis showed that the interstory drifts of SCED braced frames are more uniform than those of BRB frames, without regard to irregularity. The residual drift and residual rotation responses tended to decrease as irregularity increased. For medium-rise structures, the drift concentration factors(DCFs) for SCED systems were lower than those for BRB frames. This means that SCED-braced frames deform in a more uniform manner with respect to building height. The effect of the torsional irregularity on the magnitude of the DCFs was small.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.287-299
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of damped cable systems (DCS) to mitigate the earthquake-induced responses of a building frame structure. The seismic performance of the DCS is investigated using the fragility analysis and life cycle cost evaluation of an existing building retrofitted with the DCS, and the results are compared with the structure retrofitted with conventional fluid viscous dampers. The comparison of the analysis results reveals that, due to the self-centering capability of the DCS, residual displacement approximately reaches to zero for the structure retrofitted with the DCS. The fragility analysis shows that the structure retrofitted with the DCS has the least probability of reaching the specific limit states compared to the bare structure and the structure with the conventional fluid viscous damper (VD), especially under the severe ground motions. It is also observed that both the initial and the life cycle costs of the DCS seismic retrofitting technique is lesser compare to the structure retrofitted with the VD.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.233-252
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• 2006

Recently, negative sides of internet, internet and/or game addiction and unethical behavior over internet, have been largely publicized in our society. There have been numerous studies to explore the problems and solutions, but these lack considering broader set of research variables. Therefore, this research investigated how i) internet users' self characteristics and ii) cognitive characteristics toward internet influence iii) internet addiction and iv) information ethics respectively. Especially, this study focused on college students, more mature beings than elementary, middle and high school students with whom most other researches have dealt so far. Major findings of this study are as follows: (1) Willingness to develop relationships over internet, usefulness of internet use, a degree to perceive the cyber space as real, and a degree to express self over internet have significant effects on disabled life style. Self respect willingness to develop relationships over internet, usefulness of internet use, a degree to perceive the cyber space as real, and capability of using internet have significant effects on the lack of control over internet. Willingness to develop relationships over internet, self control, and a degree to express self over internet have significant effects on the lack of control over internet. 2) Regarding the effects of independent variables(self characteristics and cognitive characteristics) on information ethics through internet addiction factors, self respect self control, a degree to perceive the cyber space as real, and capability of using internet have directly and indirectly significant effects on information ethics through internet addiction. Then we suggested four approaches to reduce the internet addiction and improve the information ethics based on the findings.