Behavior Measurement and Classification of Steel Brace Connection Methods to Concrete Structure

Today, reinforced concrete structures have a special place in the construction industry. To retrofitting some existing concrete buildings, steel braces are used with direct connection to concrete frame. The important issue here is what the details of the connection of the brace to the concrete structure should be. The connections in concrete structures always have the most damage during an earthquake. Therefore, the performance of the connections and the type of steel braces connection to the concrete frames will affect the seismic behavior of them. For this purpose, in this study, three methods of steel brace connection to the concrete frame have been investigated. Models are created as one-story single-span and two-story single-span frames using the finite element method in the Abaqus software. The results indicate that the change in the type of connection causes changes in energy absorption, stress distribution and maximum lateral displacement of the frame. Meanwhile, by applying bilateral loads, first the bolt planting model and then the metal jacket method are considered as selected models. Concerning the performance, which is represented by plasticity and damage of elements, the maximum difference between connection methods is 10 percent and all of them are considered acceptable.