Investigating the Life Cycle Cost of Buckling Restrained Braced Frames

Ziyaei, Farzad; Pordel, Babak; Mirhosseini, S.Mohammad

doi:10.48303/bese.2025.2039479.1202

Investigating the Life Cycle Cost of Buckling Restrained Braced Frames

Document Type : Research Note

Authors

Farzad Ziyaei ¹

Babak Pordel ²

S.Mohammad Mirhosseini ³

¹ Ph.D. Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran

10.48303/bese.2025.2039479.1202

Abstract

The cyclic behavior of conventional braces is very irregular and unstable due to buckling of the brace under pressure and shows a great deterioration in resistance. Due to the complex cyclic behavior of these braces, the actual distribution of internal forces and deformations in braced frames is very different from what is predicted by conventional design methods. On the other hand, executive considerations usually lead to plans in which the capacity of braces selected for some floors is much higher than their seismic needs, while in other floors, the capacity of braces is very close to their seismic needs. These two factors, together with the strong reduction in the resistance of the braces in the post-buckling stage, cause damage to be concentrated in some floors and as a result increase the seismic demand of the braces and their connections in the said floors. Currently, the most important concern about conventional braces is the failure of conventional braces due to low cycle fatigue. Rupture of conventional braces due to fatigue has been observed in past earthquakes and experiments. In recent years, many efforts have been made to improve the seismic performance of convergent braced frames, one of the most important of which is the creation of non-buckling bracing systems. Since buckling of braces in compression is the main cause of adverse performance of conventional convergent braced frames, many researches have been done in order to develop braces with better elastoplastic behavior. The invention and development of buckling braces has been one of the results of this research. The main part of the buckling brace is the metal core (usually steel), which is prevented from buckling by an external mechanism. The most common way to prevent core buckling under pressure is to place the core in a steel sheath and fill the sheath with filler mortar (such as concrete). In buckling braces, all the axial force that enters the brace is borne by the core. By preventing the buckling of the core, this element can flow under pressure as well as tension, and thus its ability to absorb energy increases. Structures designed in the framework of performance-based design satisfy a set of pre-defined functional behavior levels according to the corresponding risk levels. In this design approach, due to the fact that the seismic response of the structure is performed through non-linear analysis, its computational cost is also higher than the linear analysis process. In the construction industry, decisions to choose structural systems in earthquake-prone areas need to consider the costs of earthquake damage and some other effects resulting from it during the useful life of the structure. Life cycle cost analysis can be used as an important tool for designing structures in which the initial cost of construction and the life cycle costs of the structure can be controlled. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the life cycle cost of performance-based design buckling restrained braces frame. The effect of an earthquake on the design of a structure is considered with the aim of reducing the initial construction cost of the structure, which may reduce the construction cost, but it is not possible to make an estimate regarding its costs during the operation period. Life cycle cost analysis is a suitable method to examine the cost of structures that are in service for a long time. In the first step of this research, two three-span frames, three four-span frames and three five-span ten-story frames with buckling braces have been designed in a performance-based framework. In this phase, OpenSees software was used to perform nonlinear modeling and analysis, and MATLAB software was used to implement the performance-based design problem. In the second step, the life cycle cost of the frames resulting from the design has been investigated using the Wen and Kang relationship.
According to the results, it was observed that considering the greater span of bracing in the design does not lead to structures with low life cycle costs. Besides, increasing the weight of the structure does not reduce the cost of life. Also, in the evaluation of the life cycle cost, the value obtained for the life cycle cost by fitting the curve with the power function achieves a greater value than the life cycle cost with the curve fitting with the exponential function.

Keywords

Performance-Based Design

Cross Braced Frame

Buckling Restrained Brace

Life Cycle Cost

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