Wang, Shuaikang (2024) The Effects of Ground Motions Characteristics and Higher Modes on the Seismic Response of Steel Strongback Braced Frame Buildings. Masters thesis, Concordia University.
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Abstract
To mitigate the weak-storey response that characterize traditional steel braced frames under seismic excitations, researchers proposed the Strongback Braced Frame (SBF) system, which is composed of a primary ductile system and an elastic vertical truss (strongback, SB). Although this system is not new, a comprehensive design method for sizing the SB truss members is lacking. It is worth mentioning that higher-mode forces are not limited by the yield mechanism of ductile system and they lead to large inertial effects relative to the first-mode response. Current studies conducted on SBF are limited for low-rise buildings where the strongback truss is integrated into the half side of ductile braced frame which leads to large ductile brace sizes. Hence, installing the SB truss exterior to the ductile system is beneficial.
In this research work, the SBF is derived from Moderately Ductile Concentrically Braced Frame (MD-CBF) with split-X braces and two SB configurations are considered: adjacent exterior and reversed exterior.
The main objectives are: i) to simplify the design method for SBF to be appealing for practitioners, ii) to analyse the effects of ground motions characteristics and higher modes on the nonlinear seismic response of low-rise buildings braced by Strongback Braced Frame (SBF) with exterior SB, and iii) to discuss the seismic performance of SBF against that of traditional MD-CBF.
The case study is a 4-storey SBF office building located on Site Class C in Victoria, B.C. Two sets of ground motions were considered in analysis: the short-duration crustal ground motions, and long-duration subduction ground motions characterised by Trifunac duration > 60 s. Detailed numerical models were developed in OpenSees and the nonlinear seismic responses of buildings were expressed in terms of interstorey drift (ISD), residual interstorey drift (RISD), floor acceleration (FA) and storey shear. To identify the types of failure mechanism, the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) was employed and the IDA curves were developed considering both sets of ground motions. The collapse margin safety was assessed and the performance of SBF building was compared against that of the benchmark 4-storey MD-CBF building.
The SBF system is found effective in mitigating the weak-storey response, distributes ISDs uniformly along the building height, exhibits reduced residual drift, and provides about 50% larger safety margin compared to traditional MD-CBF systems. In addition, the SB truss is able to respond in the elastic range while engaging all ductile braces to dissipate the input energy. Although one or even two ductile braces experienced fracture caused by low-cycle fatigue, the SB is able to prevent the occurrence of dynamic instability. Moreover, the subduction zone records that are reach in high frequency content, excite the higher modes and in consequence amplify the upper floors responses. Thus, the type of failure mechanism of SBF is strongly influenced by the mean period of ground motions; hence, the records with short mean period trigger amplified demand at upper floors, while those with longer mean period trigger damage at lower floors. It was also found that the SBF buildings show sufficient collapse margin safety and the SB location slightly influences the seismic response of SBF. However, the 4-storey MD-CBF building showed a borderline pass of margin safety criteria and is not recommended in subduction zone prone regions.
Future research is required to investigate the higher modes effect on building height, as well as the impact of differed types of ductile braces on the global response of steel SBF buildings.
| Divisions: | Concordia University > Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science > Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
| Authors: | Wang, Shuaikang |
| Institution: | Concordia University |
| Degree Name: | M.A. Sc. |
| Program: | Civil Engineering |
| Date: | 14 September 2024 |
| Thesis Supervisor(s): | Tirca, Lucia |
| ID Code: | 994606 |
| Deposited By: | Shuaikang Wang |
| Deposited On: | 17 Jun 2025 17:29 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2025 17:29 |
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