DEFORMATION CAPACITY OF STEEL RIGID-FRAME PIERS WITH BUCKLING-RESTRAINED BRACES

Abstract

The use of buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) as energy dissipation dampers is attempted for seismic performance improving of steel rigid-frame piers. In this study, the effectiveness of BRBs which connected the steel rigid-frame piers with gusset-plate to protect the structures under cyclic loading is examined by test. Compared with load carrying capacity of the original structure, the strengthened model with BRBs is equivalent to deformation capacity and ultimate strength. After the test, it was found that further attention should be paid to the design of the stiffener for suppresses out-of-plane deformation of the gusset-plates.