Seismic Evaluation Rehabilitation And Improved Design Of Sub Standard Steel Concentrically Braced Frame Buildings

Seismic design of multi-story buildings requires capacity design principles that allow for distributed damage (plastic member deformations) to occur over the building height while preventing soft-story failure mechanisms that may lead to collapse. Seismic evaluation of steel concentrically braced frame (CBF) buildings has revealed that they exhibit soft-story behavior due to non-uniform brace degradation and non-ductile failure modes. This research proposes a rehabilitative design procedure for existing buildings that uses a stiff rocking core to redistribute plastic deformations along the structure’s height. Additionally, an improved design procedure for braced frame columns is proposed for new frame design. Several representative frames were designed and evaluated using nonlinear transient seismic finite element analysis and large-scale hybrid experimental testing. Predicted, analytical, and experimental response results show reasonable agreement, and the proposed techniques are believed to be reliable for achieving desirable seismic performance in low- to mid-rise steel braced frame structures.