Performance Investigation of A new type of Hexagonal damper in a diagonal brace

In this study, a new metallic Yielding called “hexagonal damper " is introduced. It is made of steel sheets and consists of a number of blades damping incoming energy through the bending yield of its plate. This new type of yielding hexagonal dampers (HADAS) are placed on the both sides of diagonal element at the end of the connection to column base, to prevent brace buckling and energy dissipation is done by the damper.  To evaluate the cyclic performance of the proposed HADAS hexagonal damping, 15 numerical samples were simulated by Abaqus software. The study of cyclic behavior was performed on steel frames with one span and story and the sensitivity of cyclic behavior was studied based on the damper parameters such as thickness, length, geometry and dimension ratio to the thickness of the connection element of bracing to damper. The examined damper thicknesses are 12, 21, and 30 mm, examined damper lengths are 400, 500, and 600 mm, the geometry of examined damper is hexagonal, and the brace thicknesses are considered as 12, 21 and 30 mm. The cross section of the consumable brace profile is 2UNP160. The results of this study presented that this type of damper has a suitable behavior in frame energy dissipation and the total stiffness for steel plates of HADAS dampers definitely must be less than the brace stiffness in order to have an acceptable function. If the damper stiffness is more than the brace stiffness, it will cause the brace buckling and plastic joint formation in brace. The values of the thickness and length of the damper, when they are less rigid than the rigidity of the brace, cause the plastic joint to be focused on the damper and optimize performance.