Seismic performance improvement of Special Truss Moment Frames using damage and energy concepts

Abstract

SummaryNowadays, one of the most important methodologies to reduce the destructive effects of severe earthquakes on structures is the use of energy dissipation devices (EDDs). In this paper, a new configuration of special truss moment frame (STMF) systems including EDDs is theoretically proposed to improve their seismic performance. Such an improvement is achieved by provision of bending performance in these frames. For this purpose, the devices called buckling resistant braces (BRBs) are located at the side of beam‐column connections as the top and bottom members of truss‐girders. In this context, a five‐bay nine‐story STMF is designed using the damage and energy concepts recently proposed in the literature. To show the effectiveness of the proposed system with respect to the similar recently presented STMFs, this frame is then subjected to non‐linear static and non‐linear time‐history analyses under several ground motion records in order to survey on its seismic performance. Subsequently, such engineering demand parameters as lateral displacement, inter‐story drift ratio, overturning moment and shearing forces of stories, residual deformations and maximum time‐history displacement at roof level, as well as the process of plastic hinges formation are investigated. The results show the effectiveness of proposed configuration of EDDs used to improve the seismic safety of STMFs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.