Experimental and numerical study of a novel brace-type damper with replaceable ring pipes

This paper presents a new energy dissipating bracing system for application in frame structures. The brace consists of a number of pipes as energy dissipating elements and cruciform and box elements with supporting roles. Low fabrication and maintenance costs, replaceability after severe earthquakes, and simple installation are among the advantages of the proposed brace. The efficiency of the system was evaluated through a series of cyclic tests. Appropriate energy dissipating capacity along with stable hysteretic loops was confirmed during the experiment, and diameter and thickness of the pipes were identified as the two main factors influencing the brace behavior. A thorough parametric study based on simulations in the Abaqus environment was then conducted on nine different models to investigate the effects of variations in pipe geometry on the brace performance. The obtained results demonstrate that increasing the pipe diameter reduces the energy dissipation capacity and increases the deformation capacity in the proposed brace. The opposite findings are observed with respect to the thickness of the pipe. In the end, a simplified multi-linear model is proposed that can cover the overall behavior of the bracing system.