Seismic performance of steel staggered truss frame equipped with brace-type hybrid dampers with multiple nonlinear stages

Abstract

This paper explores the effectiveness of a brace-type hybrid damper (BTHD) to enhance the seismic performance of a steel staggered truss frame. The study commenced by overcoming the severe abrasion of the friction component in the previous study and improving the hysteretic behaviour of the BTHD. An improved solution using BTHD was proposed and examined via numerical analysis. Stable friction behaviour played an important role in the multi-stage hysteretic energy dissipation characteristics. A simplified model composed of the friction behaviour, plasticity behaviour, and stopper mechanism was created in ABAQUS. The results were compared to a detailed finite element (FE) model and good accuracies were achieved. Parameter studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the length of the slotted hole, friction force, and yielding strength of the steel strips. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the BTHD, a conventional steel staggered truss frame (SSTF) was designed and built. The idea of SSTF composed of BTHDs (i.e. hybrid damper-SSTF) was designed and built simultaneously. The two structures had the same initial stiffness and ultimate strength. The cyclic pushover analysis and nonlinear dynamic analysis revealed that the deformation pattern of the structure was controlled, and the formation of a weak storey was thus prevented.