Evaluating the Seismic Performance of Steel-SMA Hybrid Braces

The seismic performance of hybrid braces composed of steel and shape memory alloy (SMA) was investigated in this paper. Six types of hybrid braces were used, constituted by SMA content of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%. A nonlinear dynamic analysis was performed under El Centro earthquake records, with the maximum acceleration of 0.6g and 0.9g. Our results showed that the seismic performance, i.e., the amount of energy absorption and residual strain, of steel–SMA hybrid braces depends on the SMA content. The optimal value of SMA content was 20%, as, at this concentration, a hybrid brace can be designed with good seismic performance at a justifiable fabrication cost.