Shake Table Testing of Steel Braced Frame Considering Member Fracture

Abstract

Fracture of concentric braced frames due to local buckling under cyclic loading often requires computationally intensive 3D shell models. For practical design, the authors have previously proposed a phenomenological stick model that accurately captures local fracture, referred to as the Direct Local Strain Evaluation Method. However, the accuracy of the proposed method has previously only been validated using quasi-static cyclic component tests. This research extends this work, validating the method under dynamic loading conditions using numerical studies and in-frame shake table testing. The method is shown to be in good agreement with the global response and to accurately capture fracture due to local buckling under cyclic dynamic loads.