ABSTRACT
The building structures located on the high seismic regions are susceptible to considerable damage during severe earthquake loads due to large lateral-permanent deformations. These unrecoverable deformations not only cause technical difficulties but also result in high costs for the post-disaster repair work (McCormick et al., 2007; Zhang & Zhu, 2008). Smart systems have been consequently integrated into seismi-cresistant designs in an effort to overcome these problems. The smart systems can automatically adapt their structural characteristics to ambient external loads with the goals of procuring structural safety, extending structural lifetimes, and enhancing system serviceability (Saiid-Saiidi et al., 2007; Zhu & Zhang, 2008). One method of achieving these goals is the utilization of shape memory alloys (SMAs) with selfcentering (or recentering) capabilities, which can be integrated into the structural system. For instance, when the superelastic SMAs typically considered to be smart materials are utilized as bolt fasteners in beam-to-column connections, they can alleviate repair costs and allow building structures to sustain usable states even after strong seismic events. In addition, incorporating momentresisting frames with these SMA connections establish additional damping, reduce the effects of the seismic force, and mitigate residual story drift in the behavior of the whole building (Hu, 2008; Hu & Leon, 2010; DesRoches et al., 2004). Since superelastic SMAs can be returned to their original shapes by only load removal without heat treatment as shown in Fig. 7.1, many researchers have been exploring their applications in civil structures. Research efforts have been recently extended to using SMAs for connection design as well (Ocel et al., 2004; Abolmaali et al., 2006; Sepúlveda et al., 2008; Park et al., 2011; Hu et al., 2013).
