A Comparative Study of the Seismic Performance of Self-Centering CRBFs and BRBF systems

Abstract

The current seismic design philosophy of building structures relies on the inelastic response of the main structural elements as the principal source for dissipating the seismic energy. The product of this philosophy is considerable levels of residual drifts that could make building structures look unsafe to their occupants. Recently, considerable research efforts were directed toward the invention of self-centering (SC) lateral load-resisting systems that are able to prevent damage in the main structural elements as well as reduce the residual deformations to minimal levels. One of these SC systems is the recently proposed controlled rocking braced frame (CRBF) system. The SC-CRBFs have shown to be a suitable alternative to conventional systems such as buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs). This paper performs a comparative study on the seismic performance of SC-CRBFs and BRBF systems. Two prototype buildings having 3- and 6-story are designed using BRBF and SC-CRBF systems. The buildings are subjected to pushover static loading and a suite of earthquake records. The maximum and residual lateral drifts are considered the main performance parameters for the seismic performance evaluation. The findings of this study indicate that the SC-CRBF systems exhibit superior seismic performance in comparison with traditional BRBF systems.