Abstract
The present paper discusses possibility of a steel cooling tower with buckling-restrained members installed at the feet to effectively reduce seismic response. First, buckling behavior under wind and dead loads is investigated using elasto-plastic analysis, followed by a study for the seismic response based on eigenvalue analysis and elasto-plastic time series response analysis. Second, the effectiveness of the buckling-restrained members is discussed for reducing the seismic response of a steel cooling tower and keeping the stresses of steel members lower than yield stresses under strong earthquakes. Finally, a possibility of steel cooling tower is shown as a conclusion that the design forces of the cooling towers against earthquakes will be lowered on account of the buckling-restrained members, leading to relatively low construction cost with a high structural reliability.
