Proceedings of the 11th WSEAS International Conference on Sustainability in Science Engineering

NUMERICAL MODELLING OF CENTRICALLY BRACED

FRAMES EQUIPED WITH FRICTION DAMPERS IN THE
BRACINGS
FILIP VACARESCU NORIN
Department for Steel Structures and Structural Mechanics
Politehnica University Timisoara
Str. Ioan Curea Nr. 1A
ROMANIA
norin.filipvacarescu@ct.upt.ro
Abstract: - The paper is concerned with the numerical simulation of the behavior of centrally braced frames
under seismic action using SAP2000 engine. A test frame was analyzed using performance based design under
the action of ground motion recording of Vrancea 77. In order to improve the behavior of the dual frame,
energy dissipation devices in the form of friction dampers were equipped in the bracing system. The aim of the
paper is to use numerical modeling to study the behavior of centrically braced structures equipped with a
specific type of friction dampers in the bracings.
Key-Words: - Numerical simulation, seismic, friction damper, performance based design.
prolonging and improving its behavior in the plastic
range by implementing devices which can absorb
the seismic energy and can modify the own period
of vibration of the structure to more favorable values
for global behavior.
The first alternative that of ductile structures leads
to designing of dissipative structures .These
structures are calculated and designed so they permit
the plastic behavior of certain zones also called
dissipative zones. These zones have the role of
dissipating the kinetic energy induced by the seismic
motion by hysteretic behavior in the plastic domain.
The structural elements however conceived as being
non-dissipative must be design in such a manner that
they remain in elastic domain.
Dissipative frames can be classified according to the
nature of their dissipative zones. We can mention 3
categories here:
- centrically braced frames
Fig.:a,b,d
- eccentrically braced frames
Fig.:c
- unbraced frames
Fig.: e

1 Introduction
The static configuration of a building represents in
all configurations a spatial system capable of
transmitting to the foundations the effect of vertical
loads , own weight, live load and also the effects of
the horizontal forces that act on the structure from
wind and seismic loading.
The effect of spatial interaction is assured by both
the type of connection between the component
elements, columns, beams, and bracings or by
reinforced concrete diaphragms as well as by the
floor slabs of each floor which form horizontal
diaphragms and give high rigidity in their own
plane.
Steel frame structures generally fall into 3 main
categories according to the way they resist to the
action of lateral forces:
- un-braced frames
(moment resisting
frames) (MRF)
- centrically braced frames (CBF)
- eccentrically braced frames (EBF)
For an optimal design of these structures one must
find a compromise between the strength , rigidity,
ductility and architectural demands.
For checking at ultimate limit states, the
methodology of dimensioning of structures situated
in seismic areas can lead to the following types of
structural design concepts:
- dissipative structures
- structures isolated from seismic action
- structures with supplemental damping
For structures isolated from seismic action and those
with supplemental damping the structure is
conceived either not to enter plastic domain or by

ISSN: 1790-2769

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

For centrically braced frames the dissipative zones

are the braces subjected to tension. The braces under
compression buckle. The dissipative performance of
this type of structure is limited due to repeated

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Proceedings of the 11th WSEAS International Conference on Sustainability in Science Engineering

buckling which leads to a degradation of the cyclic

behavior with the increase in the number of cycles.
There are several types of devices that have the
purpose of dissipating seismic energy as follows :
- Hysteretic devices : yield metal device ,friction
dampers ;
- Fluid viscous dampers
- Magnetorheological fluid dampers
- Tuned mass dampers
- Base isolators
- Visco-elastic dampers
The type of damper used for this model is a friction
damper placed in the diagonal bracing. Friction
dampers achieve a high amount of energy
dissipation through friction developed between two
or more sliding surfaces under compression forces
normal to their plan. Friction devices can produce
large rectangular hysteretic loops but can be
configured to produce non-rectangular hysteretic
loops with a pinching effect. [1]
The main goal of the research is to analyze the
performance of centrically braced frames and to
improve the performance of these frames by placing
friction dampers in the bracing system. The
numerical analysis is done using SAP2000 as
modeling tool.

Fig.2 Transversal section

The dimensioning of the frame was done according
to Romanian Design Code and for dimensioning in
special combination
P100/2006 was used as a reference. The response
spectra used was for (Figure 3).
For a first iteration a seismic reduction factor of q =
2.5 was used.
Fig.3. Code Spectra

2 Geometry and design

The structure studied is a 5 storey steel building with
3 by 3 spans conceived in a dual configuration of
CBF combined with MRF frames .
The model used in the analysis comes from a
structure with 3x3 openings as depicted in Figure 1.

The dissipative elements (bracings) were

dimensioned from the load combination G + E +
0.4Q and non-dissipative elements (beams and
columns of central frame ) were dimensioned from
the load combination G + E +0.4Q. For a
simplified analysis a value of were chosen from
Tables (according to P100-1/2006 ).
For the determination of the response of the
structure to seismic loading a nonlinear dynamic
analysis (time-history) was applied using the
acceleration spectra of the
Vrancea 1977

Fig.1 Plan view

For a simplified analyses a 5 level dual type plane

frame MRF + CBF with the height of each floor of
2.4 m Figure 2.

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earthquake, recorded by INCERC Bucuresti ,

components NS, PGA= 0.19g , Tc = 1.36 sec .This
accelerogram was scaled so that the spectra of
seismic motion be as close as possible to the elastic
design spectra .

a value of 0.5% for braced frames . At SLU the

bearing capacity of the elements is checked and in
addition the drift must remain smaller then 2.5%
(P100). The FEMA document recommends a much
smaller value of 1.5% for braced frames and 2.5%
for un-braced frames. At collapse prevention the
Romanian Standards do not offer any supplemental
conditions to those given for SLU considering the
conditions for collapse are met if the ones at the
ultimate limit state are met. FEMA recommends a
value of 2.0% for braced frames and a value of 5 %
for un-braced ones. In addition at CPLS the plastic
rotation capacity is checked and should be smaller
then 0.035 radians in the MRF beams.

An incremental dynamic analysis was used at

different levels of acceleration ( = 0.2-1.6 of the
design value of acceleration ag= 0.24g ) recording
the mechanism of plastic hinge development in
elements, inter-story drift, and the values of plastic
rotation in beams and bracings and comparing these
with limit values according to performance based
design criteria both from P100 and American FEMA
document.
The check is done at 3 limit states:
- SLS =0.4
- SLU =1.0
- CPLS =1.22
The values of drift are presented graphically in
relation to the acceleration multiplier Figure 4.

3 Modeling the damper

For the analysis with dampers the bracings in the
central frame were replaced with link type elements
whose purpose is to model the behavior of the real
damper. The dampers used are of national
production and are SERB-B-194C type dampers
with a hysteretic behavior of pinching type given by
the manufacturer based on experimental testing as
shown in Figure 5.

2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
Drift +

Drift -

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

Fig.5 Hysteretic behavior of SERB device

The main problem is modeling this behavior of the
link element in the design software in order to have
a first estimate of the behavior of the structure
equipped with such devices. These devices have
damping at any deformation dx different from 0.
The maximum deformation of the medium capacity
device of 100t is +/- 15 mm.
SAP2000 provides 3 types of hysteretic behavior :
Kinematic (Fig.6), Takeda (Fig.7) and Pivot (Fig.8).

Fig.4. Inter-story drift

The first plastic hinge appears at an acceleration
multiplier of =0.8 of acceleration values and is
located in the bracings.
This shows that there is no remnant drift at levels of
acceleration corresponding to SLS (=0.4).In
addition the drift attains a peak value of 0.0041. This
value is smaller then the one imposed by P100/2006
of 0.008 for satisfying SLS limit state. This value is
also in accordance with FEMA which recommends

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800

600

400

200

-2

-4

-6

-8

Kinematic
SERB

-200

Fig.6.
-400

-600

-800

Fig.9 :Kinematic type behavior of link element

800

600

400

200

Fig.7.
10

-2

-4

-6

-8

TAKEDA
SERB

-200

-400

-600

-800

Fig.10 : Takeda type behavior of link element (kNm)

The best approximation of the area enclosed by
SERB control curve is achieved by the use of
Takeda type behavior . This behavior was used
further on in the analysis of the plane frame
presented previously. The main feature which is
recorded was again the inter story drift presented
graphically in Figure 11 in comparison to the drift
obtained for the un-damped structure:

Fig.8
The first 2 loops Kinematic and Takeda were used to
try an approximation of the hysteretic curve supplied
by the manufacturer as mentioned above. In reality
the devices are only placed at the base of the bracing
but for the ongoing analysis the whole bracing was
replaced using an equivalent rigidity Kech resulting
from connecting in series the 2 elements the bracing
and the damping with their rigidities accordingly.
Consecutive push over tests with displacement
control at +/- 2, +/- 4, +/- 6 were done. The results
are presented graphically in terms of ForceDisplacement as follows :

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Proceedings of the 11th WSEAS International Conference on Sustainability in Science Engineering

2.5

1.8
1.6

1.4
1.2
Drift +

1.5

Dift +

Drift -

Drift -

0.8
0.6

0.4
0.2

0.5

0
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

0
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

Figure 13. Drift values for kinematic model (m)

Note: All drift values are given in meters.

Fig.11 Relative drift for Takeda type curve (up) vs.

relative drift without damping devices (down).

4 Conclusion
Comparing drift curves in the two structural
configurations a first observation is that they have
almost the same shape. This shows that the
modeling of the behavior of the structure using link
type elements can be used for studying the global
behavior of the structure. This type of analysis can
therefore be used later on to determine the
performance of the structures under seismic loading
in different structural configurations and different
acceleration types. Following the values of inter
story drift you can observe close values for both
Kinematic and Takeda type behaviors .
For small values of the acceleration multiplier there
are no significant differences between the two
models with and without dampers the ones with
dampers having a slightly larger displacement
values due to reduction of the rigidity. The
advantage of dampers appears at large values of the
period of vibration ( for a multiplier of over 1.4)
when the braced structure reaches failure . The
structure with dampers records smaller deformations
and collapse is prevented .Figure 15
The use of dampers leads to improvement of ductile
characteristics of the structure avoiding a brittle
failure.

2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2

Dift +

Drift -

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

For a further comparison between the two a

Kinematic type behavior was also used (Figure 12)
which leads to a curve which completely overlaps
the control curve:
800

600

400

200

10

-2

-4

-6

-8

Kinematic
SERB

-200

-400

-600

-800

Figure 12 Kinematic type behavior (kN-m)

Using this behavior of the link elements the drift
was once again compared to the initial values
obtained for the classical solution.Fig13

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The two dampers under test have the capacity of

800kN and of 1000kN.The purpose of the test is to
calibrate the hysteretic behavior modeled so that it
can be used in the global analysis of the frame.
Based on these results further time history analyses
will be performed for different types of structures
under different sets of ground motion recordings in
order to evaluate the effectiveness of damping
introduced in the structures by this type of friction
damper.

2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2

Disipatori

CBF

0.8
0.6
0.4

References:

0.2
0
0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

FEMA 356, Pre-standard and Commentary of

Seismic Rehabilitation for Buildings
FEMA 273, Guidelines for Seismic Rehabilitation
of Buildings
P100-1/2006
[1] PROHITECH, WP6 Report, Set-up of Advanced
Reversible Mixed Technologies for Seismic
Protection, Faculty of civil and geodetic
engineering Slovenia
Trevor E. Kelly, Design Guidelines, Holmes
Consulting Group, Revision 0, July 2001
Dubina Dan, Dan Lungu et.all , Constructii
amplasate in zone cu miscari seismice puternice,
Editura Orizonturi Universitare,2003
Dinu Florea, Metode de Calcul Neliniar al
Structurilor in Cadre Metalice Solicitate la
Actiunea
Seismica,
Editura
Orizonturi
Universitare, 2006

0.1

Figure 15.Comparison of drift values

These SERB devices were designed to work
at a period of vibration of over 1.5 sec. The main
advantage is that they can give a predetermined
reduction of displacement if calibrated properly. A
reduction of drift values can be seen here also in Fig
14 for values of over 1.2 of the acceleration
multiplier meaning above the period of 1.36 of the
Vrancea 77 recording used.
The problem remains in modeling as
accurately as possible the behavior of link elements
in order to depict the real behavior of the dampers
with strengthening of the rigidity. This remains to be
the object of future studies with the main goal of
calibrating the dampers by numerical modeling to be
most suited for the structure under analysis.
At present, two SERB devices are in testing
at the laboratory of CEMSIG Research Centre
(www.cemsig.ct.upt.ro),at the Politehnica University
Timisoara.
The description of such a friction damper is shown
in Figure 16.

Fig.16

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