COMPARISON TESTS OF BUCKLING-RESTRAINED BRACES USING STEEL MORTAL PLANKS OR STEELS ONLY

Abstract

The buckling-restrained brace is a brace whose core plate is covered with a restraining part to prevent buckling. In this study, two types of buckling-restrained braces are tested and evaluated. Welding a pair of mortal-filled steel channels forms the restraining part of one type. The restraining part of the other type consists of steel channels and flat steel plates with high-strength bolts. The restraining parts are designed to have an equal geometrical moment of inertia that is used as a variable in imposing buckling restraint. Then, the hysteresis characteristics, final fracture shape and cumulative absorbed energy are investigated.