Restoring Force Model of an Energy-Dissipation Joint in Hybrid Frames: Simplified Skeleton Curve and Hysteretic Rules

In this paper, a restoring force model, composed of a trilinear skeleton curve and hysteretic rules, is proposed based on nine pseudostatic tests of the energy-dissipation joint under horizontal low cyclic loading. The critical points of the simplified skeleton curve are obtained via theoretical derivation and FE simulation. The hysteretic rules for the joints are simplified as a concave hexagon, where the parameters of the critical points are optimized by the genetic algorithm (GA). Using the established trilinear skeleton curve, three different working stages, i.e., elastic, hardening, and softening, were divided by the critical points and the moment stiffness of three stages can be calculated. The proposed hysteretic rules of each stage can reveal and explain the “pinching” in the cyclic loading, which make it easier to understand the mechanism of the energy-dissipation joint. The comparison between the restoring force model and the tests shows that the simplified skeleton curves, the established hysteretic rules, and the ductility and the damping ratio are consistent with the experimental results. Finally, the effectiveness of the established restoring force model is verified.

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