Seismic Behavior of Innovative Braces Using Incremental Dynamic Analysis

BRBs are a new type of seismic resistance system that is being used extensively nowadays due to their enhanced seismic performance than conventional braces. In BRB braces, because the buckling of the steel core is prevented, the structure shows more stable behavior. In this type of bracing, the hysteresis performance of the bracing is similar to the hysteresis performance of the core material. Another feature of these braces is that the ductility of the steel material occurs over a considerable length of the brace. Although BRB braces are capable of dissipating large amounts of energy, they are unable to eliminate their residual strains. In other words, they do not have the property of self-centering. This leads to the non-return of the structure and to its original configuration after the seismic excitations; in the absence of a return mechanism. There may arise many permanent deformations in the structure during an earthquake. To overcome these permanent deformations, various innovative solutions have been developed in the construction of steel frames, including the use of shape memory alloys (SMA) that have two prominent features of shape memory and superelastic behavior and can return to their original position after subjected to the various loadings condition. In recent years, beside the Nitinol shape memory alloy (NiTi), Iron-based shape memory alloys (SMA-Fe), which have many advantages over previous SMAs and particularly due to their lower cost, have been introduced and being used in many construction projects. In this research, the seismic behavior of structures braced with BRB, and iron-based shape memory alloy and Nitinol shape memory alloys has been investigated. Seismostruct finite element software has been used to model these systems. Incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) has been performed on seven story structures equipped with X braces with different materials. The results of this study show that braced structures with iron-base shape memory alloys undergo less maximum displacement and permanent displacement compared to nitinol-braced structures. However, these structures experience more maximum displacement than BRB braced structure. The more the structures enter the nonlinear stage (in the maximum values of the relative inter-floor displacement demand) the more the dispersion of the results increases and the structure is more affected by the input accelerometers. The structure with buckling bracing will reach instability later than the two structures with shape memory alloy bracing.It is also observed that the elastic stiffness (slope of the linear behavior region) in all 3 braced frames is equal to each other. And finally, the IDA curve of the BRB structure is higher than the two shape memory alloy structures, and at equal acceleration, it is clear that the displacement of the shape memory alloy structures is more than the buckling structure, and it can also be seen that the iron-based shape memory alloy brace has a favorable performance and its curve is slightly higher than the NiTi shape memory alloy. Also, two shape memory alloy structures move almost together and reach instability at one point. According to the curves, it seems that the braced structures with shape memory alloys have performed well and until these structures reach instability.