Effect of the connecting beam stiffness on the bracing limit for reinforced concrete slender columns in single and multi-story frames

The main purpose of this paper is to study analytically the behavior of slender reinforced concrete columns existing in sway and non-sway structures. The studied variables were the stiffness of the beam connected to the slender columns, the stiffness of the bracing columns, and the number of bays and stories in the structure model. The stability of slender columns was studied and the required limits for the lateral bracing were determined using a finite element program to perform buckling analysis, linear analysis, and geometric nonlinear analysis for the different frame structural models. All the results obtained in this study were compared to the available methods included in the different building codes and the methods suggested by other researchers. The results indicated that the minimum value of the bracing limit, required to restrain the slender column against the side-sway, depends on the stiffness of the connecting beams, number of stories, and number of bays. The required bracing limit decreases with increasing the beam stiffness and with increasing the number of bays. However, the required bracing limit increases with the increase of the number of stories in the structure.

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