Strengthening the RC Frames Using an Innovative Steel Damper with Shear Mechanism

Passive energy dampers have been identified as efficient and economical tools to improve the seismic behavior of structures against seismic loads. Among all types of passive energy dampers, steel dampers are more popular because of their ease of construction, availability, affordability, economical aspect. In addition, these types of dampers have performed well in the laboratory and numerical studies, as well as in past earthquakes. Although these types of dampers are more economical than other dampers, they are not economical to use in conventional structures compared to other conventional lateral load systems. Therefore, in this paper, an innovative damper with shear mechanism is introduced which is easy to construct and operate and is economical to use. This proposed damper is easily replaceable after severe earthquakes. Numerical results show that the proposed damper improves the seismic behavior of the RC frame. It is usually not easy to increase the stiffness and ductility of the structure at the same time, but numerical results show that the proposed dampers increase the stiffness and ductility of structures. It also causes energy dissipation to the structure by increasing the damping in the nonlinear area. In this paper, the necessary equations for calculating the ultimate stiffness and strength of the system as well as its design are proposed.