[Structural engineering]

Jiulin Bai, Feng Cheng, Shuangshuang Jin, Jinping Ou. Assessing and quantifying the earthquake response of reinforced concrete buckling‐restrained brace frame structures. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (2019) 17:3847–3871.

Keywords: Reinforced concrete frames · Buckling-restrained braces · Seismic performance · Story shear ratio · Dual system · Seismic design

High Lights:

The seismic design method of dual reinforced concrete BRB frames (RC-BRBF) was developed using performance-based plastic design.

The behaviors of RC-BRBFs corresponding to different stories, BRB configurations and story shear ratios, were systematically assessed.

The story shear ratio resisted by BRBs was quantified and the optimum design story shear ratio was suggested.

Abstract: 

Due to the stable hysteretic behavior, buckling-restrained braces (BRB) have been increasingly adopted in reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures to develop a dual structural sys- tem. This investigation aims to quantify the seismic behavior of newly-constructed rein- forced concrete BRB frames (RC-BRBFs). The force–deformation characteristic of dual RC-BRBFs is firstly presented and the yield displacement is derived using the story shear ratio resisted by BRB system. The seismic design procedure of dual systems for different BRB configurations (including single diagonal, V-type and inverted V-type), is developed using the performance-based plastic design approach by considering BRB postyield behavior, design target drift and global yield mechanism. 126 RC-BRBF structures corresponding to different story numbers, BRB configurations and story shear ratios are designed. The influence of story shear ratios on the design results is analyzed. The seismic response of structures subjected to 22 ground motions is investigated and compared in terms of yield mode, maximum interstory drift ratio, BRB maximum ductility and cumulative ductility, and residual drift ratio. The relationship between actual and design normalized story shear of BRBs is demonstrated and a fitting equation is proposed to quantify the actual story shear ratios. The analytical results of the present study can provide quantified insights to the seismic design of RC-BRBF structures.

Resource：https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-019-00633-0