Experimental and numerical study of grooved gusset plate damper for cross-braced frames

Abstract

An innovative grooved gusset plate damper (GGPD) is further developed in this study by conducting cyclic tests and numerical analysis. The proposed damper is installed in X-Concentrically Braced Frames (X-CBFs) for enhancing the seismic performance and energy dissipation of such a system. To investigate the performance characteristics of the system, three 2/3-scale specimens are constructed that are different only in the details of the damper. The damper consists of a gusset plate in which a number of slits are cut around the diagonal braces. The steel between the slits undergoes large plastic deformations under in-plane double curvature, which provides a good level of ductility and energy dissipation. Low cycle fatigue is observed at drift ratios over 1.5% in the first specimen. Thickness of the middle part of the gusset plate is increased in the third specimen as a remedy which turns out to be successful to postpone degradation of stiffness and strength to the drift ratios larger than 3%. Furthermore, a detailed nonlinear 3D finite element model is developed and validated against the results of laboratory tests. The nonlinear finite element model is shown to be successful in predicting failure and fracture due to low cycle fatigue and showing the superiority of the modified specimens in preserving the stable shapes of the hysteresis loops and the cyclic energy dissipation.