• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.3
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• pp.303-317
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• 2020

In this study an innovative rocking zipper braced frame (RZBF) is proposed to overcome the deficiencies of common concentrically braced frames. RZBF is an improved rocking concentrically braced frame which is based on combination of rocking behavior and zipper columns. The base rocking joints and post-tensioned bars provide rocking response and restoring force, respectively. Also, zipper columns distribute the unbalance force over the frame height and reduce the damage concentration. To evaluate seismic performance of RZBF, a comparison study is carried out considering concentrically braced frame, zipper braced frame, rocking concentrically braced frame and RZBF. Thereby, a suite of non-linear time history analyses had been performed on four different types of archetypes with four, six, eight, ten and twelve stories. Frames were designed and non-linear time history analyses were conducted in OpenSees. To compare the seismic behavior of the archetypes, roof drifts, residual roof drifts, story drifts, the forces of first and top story braces, PT bars forces, column uplift and base shears were taken in to consideration. Results illustrate that using RZBF, can reduce the damage due to reduced residual drifts. Zipper columns enhance the seismic performance of rocking systems. As the number of stories increase in the RZBF systems, larger top story braces were needed. So the RZBF system is applicable on low and midrise buildings.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.687-702
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• 2016

There are many studies in the literature conducted on the subject of ensuring earthquake safety of reinforced concrete and steel structures using steel braced frames, but no detailed study concerning individual behavior of steel braced frames under earthquake loads and strengthening of reinforced concrete structures with out-of-plane steel braced frames has been encountered. In this study, in order to evaluate behaviors of "Concentrically Steel Braced Frames" types defined in TEC-2007 under lateral loads, dimensional analysis of Concentrically Steel Braced Frames designed with different scales and dimensions was conducted, the results were controlled according to TEC-2007, and after conducting static pushover analysis, behavior and load capacity of the Concentrically Steel Braced Frames and hinges sequence of the elements constituting the Concentrically Steel Braced Frames were tested. Concentrically Steel Braced Frames that were tested analytically consist of 2 storey and one bay, and are formed as two groups with the scales 1/2 and 1/3. In the study, Concentrically Steel Braced Frames described in TEC-2007 were designed, which are 7 types in total being non-braced, X-braced, V- braced, $\wedge$- braced, $\backslash$- braced, /- braced and K- braced. Furthermore, in order to verify accuracy of the analytic studies performed, the 1/2 scaled concentrically steel X-braced frame test element made up of box profiles and 1/3 scaled reinforced concrete frame with insufficient earthquake resistance were tested individually under lateral loads, and test results were compared with the results derived from analytic studies and interpreted. Similar results were obtained from both experimental studies and pushover analyses. According to pushover analysis results, load-carrying capacity of 1/3 scaled reinforced concrete frames increased up to 7,01 times as compared to the non-braced specimen upon strengthening. Results acquired from the study revealed that reinforced concrete buildings which have inadequate seismic capacity can be strengthened quickly, easily and economically by this method without evacuating them.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.755-763
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• 2017

In this study, the susceptibility of different symmetric steel buildings with dual frame system to Progressive Collapse (PC) was assessed. Some ten-story dual frame systems with different type of braced frames (concentrically and eccentrically braced frames) were considered. In addition, numbers and locations of braced bays were investigated (two and three braced bays in exterior frames) to quantitatively find out its effect on PC resistance. An Alternate Path Method (APM) with a linear static analysis was carried out based on General Services Administration (GSA 2003) guidelines. Maximum Demand Capacity Ratio (DCR) for the elements (beams and columns) with highest DCRs ($DCR_{moment}$ and $DCR_{shear}$) is given in tables. The results showed that the three braced bays with concentric braced frames especially X-braced and inverted V-braced frame systems had a lower susceptibility and greater resistance to PC. Also, the results represented that the beams were more critical than columns against PC after the removal of column.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.319-324
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• 2008

In this study the progressive collapse potential of special concentrically braced frames were investigated using the nonlinear static. All of seven different brace types were considered. According to the pushdown analysis results, most braced frames designed according to current design codes satisfied the design guidelines for progressive collapse initiated by loss of a first story mid-column; however most model structures showed brittle failure mode. This was caused by buckling of columns after compressive braces buckled. Among the braced frames considered, the inverted-V type braced frames showed superior ductile behavior during progressive collapse.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.185-201
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• 2023

Despite the high lateral stiffness and strength of the Concentrically Braced Frame (CBF), due to the buckling of its diagonal members, it is not a suitable system in high seismic regions. Among the offered methods to overcome the shortcoming, utilizing a metallic damper is considered as an appropriate idea to enhance the behavior of Concentrically Braced Frames (CBFs). Therefore, in this paper, an innovative steel damper is proposed, which is investigated experimentally and numerically. Moreover, a parametrical study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the mechanism (shear, shear-flexural, and flexural) considering buckling mode (elastic, inelastic, and plastic) on the behavior of the damper. Besides, the necessary formulas based on the parametrical study were presented to predict the behavior of the damper that they showed good agreement with finite element (FE) results. Both experimental and numerical results confirmed that dampers with the shear mechanism in all buckling modes have a better performance than other dampers. Accordingly, the FE results indicated that the shear damper has greater ultimate strength than the flexural damper by 32%, 31%, and 56%, respectively, for plates with elastic, inelastic, and plastic buckling modes. Also, the shear damper has a greater stiffness than the flexural damper by 43%, 26%, and 53%, respectively, for dampers with elastic, inelastic, and plastic buckling modes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.231-248
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• 2012

This research aims to investigate the structural behavior of concentrically braced frames after element loss by performing nonlinear static and dynamic analyses such as Time History Analysis (THA), Pushdown Analysis (PDA), Vertical Incremental Dynamic Analyses (VIDA) and Performance-Based Analysis (PBA). Such analyses are to assess the potential and capacity of this structural system for occurrence of progressive collapse. Besides, by determining the Failure Overload Factors (FOFs) and associated failure modes, it is possible to relate the results of various types of analysis in order to save the analysis time and effort. Analysis results showed that while VIDA and PBA according to FEMA 356 are mostly similar in detecting failure mode and FOFs, the Pushdown Overload Factors (PDOFs) differ from others at most to the rate of 23%. Furthermore, by sensitivity analysis it was observed that among the investigated structures, the eight-story frame had the most FOF. Finally, in this research the trend of FOF and the FOF to critical member capacity ratio for the plane split-X braced frames were introduced as a function of the number of frame stories.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.233-267
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• 2018

Conventional seismic design of concentrically braced frame (CBF) structures suggests that the gusset plate connecting a steel brace to beams and/or columns should be designed as non-dissipative in earthquakes, while the steel brace members should be designed as dissipative elements. These design intentions lead to thicker and larger gusset plates in design on one hand and a potentially under-rated contribution of gusset plates in design, on the other hand. In contrast, research has shown that compact and thinner gusset plates designed in accordance with the elliptical clearance method rather than the conventional standard linear clearance method can enhance system ductility and energy dissipation capacity in concentrically braced steel frames. In order to assess the two design methods, six cyclic push-over tests on full scale models of concentric braced steel frame structures were conducted. Furthermore, a 3D finite element (FE) shell model, incorporating state-of-the-art tools and techniques in numerical simulation, was developed that successfully replicates the response of gusset plate and bracing members under fully reversed cyclic axial loading. Direct measurements from strain gauges applied to the physical models were used primarily to validate FE models, while comparisons of hysteresis load-displacement loops from physical and numerical models were used to highlight the overall performance of the FE models. The study shows the two design methods attain structural response as per the design intentions; however, the elliptical clearance method has a superiority over the standard linear method as a fact of improving detailing of the gusset plates, enhancing resisting capacity and improving deformability of a CBF structure. Considerations were proposed for improvement of guidelines for detailing gusset plates and bracing members in CBF structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-37
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• 2018

In this paper, seismic provisions related to built-up special concentrically braced frames (BSCBFs) are investigated under cyclic loading using non-linear finite element analysis of a single-bay single-story frame. These braces, which contain double angle and double channel brace sections, are considered in two types of single diagonal and X-braced frames. The results of this study show that current seismic provisions such as observing the 0.4 ratio for slenderness ratio of individual elements between stitch connectors are conservative in BSCBFs, and can be increased according to the type of braces. Furthermore, such increments will lead to decreasing or remaining the current middle protected zone requirements of each BSCBFs. Failure results of BSCBFs, which are related to the plastic equivalent strain growth of members and ductility capacity of the models, show that the behaviors of double channel back-to-back diagonal braces are more desirable than those of similar face-to-face ones. Also, for double angle diagonal braces, results show that the failure of back-to-back BSCBFs occurs faster in comparison with face-to-face similar braces. In X-braced frames, cyclic and failure behaviors of built-up face-to-face models are more desirable than similar back-to-back braces in general.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.265-276
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• 2017

Structures are designed in such a way that they behave in a nonlinear manner when subject to strong ground motions. Energy concepts have been widely used to evaluate the structural performance for the last few decades. Energy based design can be expressed as the balance of energy input and the energy dissipation capacity of the structure. New research is needed for multi degree of freedom systems (MDOFs)-real structures- within the framework of the energy based design methodology. In this paper, energy parameters are evaluated for low-, medium- and high-rise steel special concentrically braced frames (SCBFs) in terms of total energy input and hysteretic energy. Nonlinear dynamic time history analyses are carried out to assess the variation of energy terms along the height of the frames. A seismic energy demand spectrum is developed and hysteretic energy distributions within the frames are presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.251-261
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• 2018

Self-centering concentrically braced frames (SCCBFs) are emerging as high performance seismically resistant braced framing system, due to the capacity of withstanding strong earthquake attacks and promptly recovering after events. To get a further insight into the seismic performance of SCCBFs, systematical evaluations are currently conducted from the perspective of modal contributions. In this paper, the modal pushover analysis (MPA) approach is utilized to obtain the realistic seismic demands by summarizing the contribution of each single vibration mode. The MPA-based results are compared with the exact results from nonlinear response history analysis. The adopted SCCBFs originate from existing buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBF), which are also analyzed for purpose of comparison. In the analysis of these comparable framing systems, interested performance indices that closely relate to the structural damage degree include the interstory drift ratio, floor acceleration, and absorbed hysteretic energy. The study shows that the MPA approach produces acceptable predictions in comparison to the exact results for SCCBFs. In addition, the high-modes effect on the seismic behavior increases with the building height, and is more evident in the SCCBFs than the BRBFs.