Abstract
It has been shown in various past studies including the author’s ones that the most efficient way to upgrade the seismic performances of bridge structures will be to install a kind of energy absorption devices, such as buckling restrained braces (BRB) and shear panel dampers (SPD). In this paper, performance tests and analysis of BRBs made of an aluminum alloy (A5083P-O) are studied. The target performances of the so-called high performance seismic dampers that are supposed to withstand level 2 earthquakes three times are first clarified, and a series of performance tests have been carried out for BRBs. Moreover an numerical study using the modified two surface model developed by the authors for A5083P-O aluminum alloy is also presented and discussed from various view points including the overall buckling.
