Experimental Study of Rotational-Friction Damper with Two Slip Load and Evaluation of its Performance in RC Frame under Cyclic Loading

This study experimentally examines types of rotational-friction dampers with two slip load and numerically analyze the behavior of a reinforced concrete frame with these dampers under cyclic loading. To this goal, the study will explain the mechanism of proposed damper’s action after the introduction. In the next step, two specimens of rotational-friction dampers with two different slip load are investigated in the laboratory. Using OpenSees software, the proposed behavioral model is validated by experimental results. In the final step, a frame of one-story reinforced concrete that had one bay was analyzed under cyclic loading in four states including (1) without damper, (2) with a rotational-friction damper that had one slip load (RFD), (3) with a rotational-friction damper that had two slip load type S01, and (4) with a rotational-friction damper that had two slip load type S02. The obtained results were discussed and examined after these analyses. The results of the numerical analysis also show that the concrete frame with S01 damper has better seismic performance. This is because its ultimate strength and dissipated energy are respectively 15% and 164% more than the ultimate strength and dissipated energy of the frame without damper, at the last cycle.