Effect of the Height of the Structure in Seismic Response of Steel Structures Utilizing State of the Art Bracing Systems

Shape memory alloys are such materials that are able to undergo large strains of up to 8 percent without leaving residual strains. Therefore, their recentering feature prevents the structure from permanent deformations when it is subjected seismic loadings. Having those key features, it makes shape memory alloy an ideal bracing to be utilized in the steel frame structures. Also, another form of the bracing system being buckling restrained braces provides more ductility and stability for the steel structure when subjected to earthquake loading. In this paper, seismic behavior of structures using shape memory alloy braces and/or buckling restrained braces has been investigated. It has been shown that in relatively short structures, priority of using one bracing system with respect to the other one depends on the intensity of ground motions. Also, in contrary to the short structures, in mid-rise structures utilizing shape memory alloy braces has no benefit; and thus using buckling restrained steel braces is preferred.