Parametric Study on the Seismic Response of Steel-Framed Buildings with Self-Centering Tension-Only Braces

Self-centering bracing systems, by which residual deformations of structures after earthquakes can be minimized, are considered effective solutions to achieve seismic resilience. In this paper, a parametric study on the seismic response of intermediate and high-rise steel-framed buildings with novel self-centering tension-only braces (SC-TOBs) is numerically conducted. Three key parameters, the stiffness degradation factor, the activation strain, and the initial axial stiffness of the SC-TOBs, are investigated to explore the design space for the SC-TOB frames (SC-TOBFs) because of their unique tunability compared with traditional bracing systems. Identical steel frames equipped with buckling restrained braces (BRBs) are also designed and examined for comparison purposes. The results indicate that increasing the stiffness degradation factor can improve the second stiffness of SC-TOBFs and successfully make the distribution of interstory drifts more uniform; an increase in the activation strain leads to a larger activation deformation of SC-TOBFs, but it has a very limited effect on the interstory drifts; increasing the initial axial stiffness appropriately is beneficial to reduce the interstory drifts of the low stories. The lateral behavior of SC-TOBFs is comparable to that of BRB frames when a lower activation strain and a higher initial axial stiffness are selected. Furthermore, when a higher stiffness degradation factor and a lower initial axial stiffness are selected simultaneously, the seismic action on SC-TOBFs can be effectively reduced, and a relatively uniform distribution over the building height can be obtained. The SC-TOBFs are considered to be a type of performance-tunable structure, and tuning can be achieved by varying a frame’s adjustable parameters.

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