Usami, T.

A Numerical Study on the Behavior of High-Performance Buckling-Restrained Braces

Abstract eng:
The paper presents experimental and analytical studies on developing highperformance (i.e., high-energy absorption) BRBs for steel bridge structures. Low-cycle fatigue tests of four BRB’s specimens with different constant strain amplitudes and with different constraints on the core brace were conducted as benchmark experiments in order to evaluate the results of the simulations. Both half and whole models of beam elements are proposed with and without taking into account the symmetry of the brace member. Experimental and analytical results show that the BRB’s specimens with the stoppers possess better lowcycle fatigue performance than the specimens without the stoppers. The CID performance of steel BRBs with the stoppers even under the strain amplitude, larger than 3%, can meet the requirements of High-performance BRBs but the CID performance of steel BRBs without the stoppers cannot meet the requirements of High-performance BRBs. The friction coefficient of 0.075 is regarded as the right value for the simulations and half and models can effectively simulate the mechanical behavior of the BRB with or without the stoppers.

Contributors:

Funayama, J.

Publisher:

National Technical University of Athens, 2011

Conference Title:

Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earhquake Engineering

Conference Title:

COMPDYN 2011 - 3rd International Thematic Conference

Conference Venue:

Island of Corfu (GR)

Conference Dates:

2011-05-25 / 2011-05-28