The Parametric Investigation of Cyclic Performance of the Buckling Restrained Braces with Different Cores

The Buckling Restrained Brace (BRB) is a type of high energy dissipation damper. The damper includes a thin steel core, a concrete cover designed to maintain the steel core and prevent it from buckling under axial compression, and a middle layer that prevents unwanted interactions between the steel brace core and the concrete sheath. Braced frames that use the BRB are known as buckling restrained braced frames, which have many advantages over conventional braced frames. In this study, the effect of geometric shape and number of holes on the core of the buckling restrained brace has been investigated by numerical simulation with finite element method. Six brace core types with rectangular and circular shaped with equal area with and without holes. The holes are placed one, three and five with full details in ABAQUS software and results in terms of failure modes, severity of damage and Hysteresis curve have been studied. To verify the modeling method and assumptions, an experimental sample is verified. The results of this study indicate the significant effect of more holes and the use of circular rather than rectangular holes on the cyclic performance of buckling restrained brace.