The resistance of a structure against an earthquake is related to Its ability to dissipate the seismic input energy. The input energy can be absorbed by plastic deformations of building frame-components such as beams and columns, or by specially prepared members such as hysteretic dampers. The second altemative is very advisable as it can prevent the damage to the main frame. Along this line, two new brace-type hysteretic dampers have been developed recently". The new dampers use steel rods and steel plates with slits as energy absorbing device. This paper presents the results of full scale and real time dynamic shaking tests, conducted for assessing their predicted behavior. On the tests, the brace dampers were installed in an auxiliary testing frame forming a flexible-stiff mixed structure, and stressed up to its collapse. The test results confirmed the expected dynamic,response and proved their high energy absorption capacity.
