ABSTRACT
Several prototype buildings using SC-MRFs have recently been designed in studies that investigated in parallel the seismic performance of
1 INTRODUCTION
The manner in which a building withstands repeated cycles of strong seismic forces, the extent of structural damage and its effect on postearthquake integrity in subsequent earthquakes, are measures of resiliency. In the case of essential buildings, these characteristics directly impact the community resiliency following an earthquake. Steel self-centering moment resisting frames (SCMRFs) are resilient systems that return to their original vertical position, and eliminate or limit structural damage to easily replaceable seismic fuses. The design concept for the SC-MRFs was developed to alleviate excessive structural damage and permanent drift found in conventional welded moment resisting frames (WMRFs) after major earthquakes. Seismic performance of SC-MRFs has been validated extensively in experimental tests (e.g., Ricles et al., 2002, Garlock et al., 2005, Rojas et al., 2005, Chou et al., 2006, Kim & Christopoulos 2008) and in analytical studies (e.g., Garlock 2002, Dobossy et al., 2006, Garlock & Li 2008, Kim & Christopoulos 2009, Herning et al., 2011). The SC connections in these studies include supplemental energy dissipation (ED) mechanisms that provide yielding-or friction-based damping.
