• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2009

Failure modes result in fracture or tearing, which may cause deterioration of resistance and reduction of inelastic deformation capacity. The potential failure modes for Special Concentrically Braced Frames (SCBFs) include fracture or tearing of the brace, net section fracture of the brace or gusset plate, fracture of the gusset plate welds, shear fracture of the bolts, block shear, excessive bolt bearing deformation, and buckling of the gusset plate. HSS tubular braces are commonly used in SCBFs, and net section fracture of the tubular brace may also occur through the brace net section at the end of the slot cut into the tube to slip over the gusset plate. This failure mode is categorized as a tension failure mode, and may cause dramatic loss of resistance and brittle behavior. Net section reinforcement is required according to AISC design specifications (AISC 2001). In this paper, the need to reinforce the net section area was discussed. Initially, the results of the net section fracture tests done by the University of California in Berkeley were presented with the modeling of these tests using FE models. To investigate the possibility of net section fracture in an actual frame, the slot end hole model was adapted to the frame FE model, and alternate near-fault histories were applied with tension-dominated cycles, since previous analyses showed that loading history was the most critical factor in net section fracture. The need for this reinforcement (cover plate) and the tension-dominated near-fault history were investigated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.405-415
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• 2011

For the safe seismic design of buildings, it is necessary to predict the plastic deformation demands of the members as well as the story drift ratio. In the present study, a simple method of estimating the beam plastic rotation was developed for special-moment-resisting steel frame structures designed with strong column-weak beam behavior. The proposed method uses elastic analysis rather than nonlinear analysis, which is difficult to use in practice. The beam plastic rotation was directly calculated based on the results of the elastic analysis, addressing the moment redistribution, the column and joint dimensions, the movement of the plastic hinge, the panel zone deformation, the gravity load, and the strain-hardening behavior. In addition, the rocking effect of the braced frame or core wall on the beam plastic rotation was addressed. For verification, the proposed method was applied to a six-story special-moment frame designed with strong column-weak beam behavior. The predicted plastic rotations of the beams were compared with those that were determined via nonlinear analysis. The beam plastic rotations that were predicted using the proposed method correlated well with those that were determined from the nonlinear pushover analysis.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.10-17
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• 2020

The recent earthquake in Korea caused large and small damages to many school building. School building is an important building that is used as a shelter in the event of disaster. Among the seismic retrofit methods, the internal steel braced frame type method is used for its relatively easy construction and excellent performance. In this study, the maximum shear force and displacement were compared and examined by applying the brace frame to existing concrete school buildings. As a result, we verified the adequacy of the analytical model and compared and examined the effect of brace-height ratio on the span of the existing school buildings. The adequacy of the maximum shear force and displacement relationship can be confirmed in the model with a length of 0.3. In addition, seismic frame was applied to the actual non-seismic reinforced concrete school building, and the seismic performance was evaluated by nonlinear static analysis(Push-over analysis) according to the ratio of brace-height. As a result, the increase of the brace-height according to the brace-height ratio has the effect of increasing the maximum shear force and maximum load at the performance point. But the collapse of the braced frame due to the increase in the lateral stiffness occurred, indicating that seismic retrofit according to the proper brace-height is necessary. Therefore, in the seismic retrofit design of brace frame of existing school building, it is necessary to select the proper brace-height after retrofit analysis according to the brace-height ratio.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.27-44
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• 2020

This work presents a comparison of three performance-based seismic design methods (PBSD) as applied to plane steel frames having eccentric braces (EBFs) and buckling restrained braces (BRBFs). The first method uses equivalent modal damping ratios (ξ_k), referring to an equivalent multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) linear system, which retains the mass, the elastic stiffness and responds in the same way as the original non-linear MDOF system. The second method employs modal strength reduction factors (${\bar{q}}_k$) resulting from the corresponding modal damping ratios. Contrary to the behavior factors of code based design methods, both ξ_k and ${\bar{q}}_k$ account for the first few modes of significance and incorporate target deformation metrics like inter-storey drift ratio (IDR) and local ductility as well as structural characteristics like structural natural period, and soil types. Explicit empirical expressions of ξ_k and ${\bar{q}}_k$, recently presented by the present authors elsewhere, are also provided here for reasons of completeness and easy reference. The third method, developed here by the authors, is based on a hybrid force/displacement (HFD) seismic design scheme, since it combines the force-base design (FBD) method with the displacement-based design (DBD) method. According to this method, seismic design is accomplished by using a behavior factor (q_h), empirically expressed in terms of the global ductility of the frame, which takes into account both non-structural and structural deformation metrics. These expressions for q_h are obtained through extensive parametric studies involving non-linear dynamic analysis (NLDA) of 98 frames, subjected to 100 far-fault ground motions that correspond to four soil types of Eurocode 8. Furthermore, these factors can be used in conjunction with an elastic acceleration design spectrum for seismic design purposes. Finally, a comparison among the above three seismic design methods and the Eurocode 8 method is conducted with the aid of non-linear dynamic analyses via representative numerical examples, involving plane steel EBFs and BRBFs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.561-580
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• 2020

Buckling restrained braces (BRBs) were developed as an enhanced alternative to conventional braces by restraining their global buckling, thus allowing development of a stable quasi-symmetric hysteretic response. A wider adoption of buckling restrained braced frames is precluded due to proprietary character of most BRBs and the code requirement for experimental qualification. To overcome these problems, BRBs with capacities corresponding to typical steel multi-storey buildings in Romania were developed and experimentally tested in view of prequalification. In the second part of this paper, a complex nonlinear numerical model for the tested BRBs was developed in the finite element environment Abaqus. The calibration of the numerical model was performed at both component (material models: steel, concrete, unbonding material) and member levels (loading, geometrical imperfections). Geometrically and materially nonlinear analyses including imperfections were performed on buckling restrained braces models under cyclic loading. The calibrated models were further used to perform a parametric study aiming at assessing the influence of the strength of the buckling restraining mechanism, concrete class of the infill material, mechanical properties of steel used for the core, self-weight loading, and frame effect on the cyclic response of buckling restrained braces.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.135-153
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• 2013

This study investigates the direct displacement based design (DDBD) approach for different types of reinforced concrete structural systems including single moment-resisting, dual wall-frame and dual steel-braced systems. In this methodology, the displacement profile is calculated and the equivalent single degree of freedom system is then modeled considering the damping characteristics of each member. Having calculated the effective period and secant stiffness of the structure, the base shear is obtained, based on which the design process can be carried out. For each system three frames are designed using DDBD approach. The frames are then analyzed using nonlinear time-history analysis with 7 earthquake accelerograms and the damage index is investigated through lateral drift profile of the models. Results of the analyses and comparison of the nonlinear time-history analysis results indicate efficiency of the DDBD approach for different reinforced concrete structural systems.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 2004

Most steel frame structures are constructed to one side without considering the arrangement of major-minor axis of column and bracing. This research presents more safety and economic efficiency can be obtained by just rearrangement of major-minor axis. Because most of steel-frame structures are excessively designed with Allowable Stress Design, and it needs to be changed to other specifications. The arrangement of major-minor axis of column is partly referred in AISC-LRFD, but still insufficient. This study compared with the each result from rearrangement of major-minor axis of column, arrangement of bracing, the connecting method of bracing, and consequence with different specifications. Moreover it demonstrated the direction of more economically optimized design.

• 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.

• 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.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.29-44
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• 2020

The effectiveness and the sensitivity of a Wireless impedance/Admittance Monitoring System (WiAMS) for the prompt damage diagnosis of two single-storey single-span Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames under cyclic loading is experimentally investigated. The geometrical and the reinforcement characteristics of the RC structural members of the frames represent typical old RC frame structure without consideration of seismic design criteria. The columns of the frames are vulnerable to shear failure under lateral load due to their low height-to-depth ratio and insufficient transverse reinforcement. The proposed Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system comprises of specially manufactured autonomous portable devices that acquire the in-situ voltage frequency responses of a network of twenty piezoelectric transducers mounted to the RC frames. Measurements of external and internal small-sized piezoelectric patches are utilized for damage localization and assessment at various and increased damage levels as the magnitude of the imposed lateral cycle deformations increases. A bare RC frame and a strengthened one using a pair of steel crossed tension-ties (X-bracing) have been tested in order to check the sensitivity of the developed WiAMS in different structural conditions since crack propagation, damage locations and failure mode of the examined frames vary. Indeed, the imposed loading caused brittle shear failure to the column of the bare frame and the formation of plastic hinges at the beam ends of the X-braced frame. Test results highlighted the ability of the proposed SHM to identify incipient damages due to concrete cracking and steel yielding since promising early indication of the forthcoming critical failures before any visible sign has been obtained.