A novel seismic energy dissipation device: Laboratory tests, mathematical modeling, and numerical analysis

Abstract

Seismic energy dissipation devices are used in buildings to dissipate seismic energy in the event of an earthquake. These devices use steel and its yielding properties to dissipate the input seismic energy and protect the building’s structure from damage and failure. There are many types of seismic energy dissipation devices, but all share the same goal of dissipating seismic energy. As part of an ongoing research program, a novel steel seismic energy dissipation device has been proposed. The device is made of a curved diaphragm plate made of mild steel. The diaphragm plate is welded to flanges and transverse stiffeners and can be connected to beam–column joints with a number of bolts. The damper and its geometric variants have been designed and tested in the lab under quasi-static cyclic loading conditions. In the present study, we briefly discuss the experimental program and its main outcomes; however, the main objectives will be mathematical modeling and numerical simulations. The proposed dampers are found to exhibit a stable nonlinear hysteretic behavior with small and large load–deflection loops. This behavior is an indicator of the damper’s capabilities in dissipating significant amounts of input energies with varying intensities. Mathematical modeling of the proposed damper was performed using the Bouc–Wen–Baber–Noori (BWBN) model of hysteresis to simulate the degradation of the device after repetitive loading cycles. The identification of the BWBN model parameters is discussed in detail. Nonlinear finite element buckling analysis was found to be in good agreement with test results of the best performing variant. Interesting results about the shear stress distribution at different buckling stages are presented and discussed in detail.