Rapid Seismic Rehabilitation Strategy: Concept and Testing of Cable Bracing with Couples Resisting Damper
by M. Kurata, (corresponding author), M.ASCE, (Assistant Professor, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto Univ., Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan. E-mail: kurata.masahiro.5c@kyoto-u.ac.jp), R. T. Leon, F.ASCE, (Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355. E-mail: roberto.leon@ce.gatech.edu), and R. DesRoches, M.ASCE, (Professor and Associate Chair, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355. E-mail: reginald.desroches@ce.gatech.edu)
Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 138, No. 3, March 2012, pp. 354-362, (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000401)
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| Document type: |
Journal Paper |
| Abstract: |
The goal of this study is to design and evaluate simple and rapid seismic retrofit devices for relatively small rehabilitation projects for steel structures. These designs are consistent with the tenets of sustainable design and will result in a more resilient building stock as well as minimizing environmental and economical effects and social consequences during the rehabilitation project. To achieve these goals, a unique approach to designing supplemental systems by using tension-only elements is proposed, one that eliminates undesirable global and local buckling. The first generation of these devices, a bracing system consisting of cables and a central energy dissipating device [couples resisting (CORE) damper], is presented in this paper. Both analytical studies with advanced and simplified models and proof-of-concept testing demonstrated stable, highly efficient performance of the system under seismic loads. Preliminary applications of the CORE damper system to the retrofitting of a braced steel frame showed the ability of the system to minimize soft story failures and residual deformations. |
| Author Keywords: | 
| Seismic rehabilitation |
| Sustainable design |
| Cross bracing |
| Energy dissipating device |
| Tension only |
| Cable |
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