Development and experimental validation of a novel friction-type energy dissipation steel truss

Abstract

A novel friction-type energy dissipation steel truss (FED-ST) was proposed in this study to improve the energy dissipation capacity and ductility of the staggered truss framing systems. The proposed FED-ST incorporates a friction energy dissipation damper into the top chord of traditional truss. The configuration and behavior of this system was explained, and the design procedure were also presented. Then, a 1:2.5-scale specimen FED-ST1 was designed, fabricated, and tested under cyclic loadings, and a traditional truss specimen ST1 was tested as a comparison. The test results confirmed that the FED-ST designed based on the proposed method exhibited the expected responses and failure mode under lateral force. FED-ST has high initial stiffness and strength similar to traditional trusses, and its energy dissipation capacity and ductility factor are more than 3 times that of traditional trusses. The equivalent viscous damping factor of the FED-ST remains at a high level (0.25–0.35) after activation of the friction damper. The FED-ST can greatly improve the energy dissipation capacity of the trusses.