Determining the Optimal Length of Link Beam in Eccentric Braced Frames under Near and Far-fault Earthquakes

In this research, it will be paid to evaluate the effects of the link beam length on seismic behavior of eccentric braced frames under near and far-fault earthquakes. For this purpose, four frame structures with different number of stories such as 3, 6, 9 and 12 have been used. For each of these frames, three different lengths of link beam are considered. After designing structures and preparation of non-linear models, these models are analyzed under a suite of 10 and 3 near and far-fault records, respectively. Nonlinear dynamic time history analyses are performed using scaled records for these structures, and the response values of the stories displacement, base shear and the rotation of link beam are evaluated for them. Based on the results of this study, it is specified that increasing the length of link beam and change the mode of the link beam from the shear to bending, the values of stories drift are considerably increased, but the values of base shear are decreased relatively. This result is similar for near and far-fault records. Therefore, it seems that the use of a short link beam would offer a better behavior to the braced frame if the architectural conditions allow. The results showed that in 0.8 m as an optimal length, the displacement response of frames under near-fault records up to 15 percent larger than the far-fault records. This difference is lower for base shear response.