Cyclic behaviour of eccentrically braced frames fabricated with high-strength steel

Abstract

This paper reports on a study performed on cyclic testing of two half-scale, one-bay, one-storey, Y-shaped, eccentrically braced frames fabricated with high-strength steel to investigate their hysteretic behaviour and performance, including the failure mode and load-bearing, ductility and energy-dissipation capacities. A comparison between experimental and finite-element model results was performed. In addition, non-linear analyses of the numerical models were carried out to investigate the effects of shear-link length on hysteretic behaviour. The test results indicated that the specimens had a good deformation capacity. The hysteretic curves were very full, implying the frames had significant energy-dissipation capacity. The frames are a safe dual system with useful hysteretic behaviour and seismic performance. The designed shear links dissipated the energy by way of shear deformation during cyclic loading. The numerical analysis indicated that shear-link length could influence the cyclic behaviour.