Seismic design of hybrid braced frames with self-centering braces and fluid viscous damping braces

Combining self-centering braces (SCBs) and fluid viscous damping braces (FVDBs) in parallel emerges as a promising seismic-resistant strategy, because it has the potential of simultaneously controlling peak deformation, peak acceleration, peak base shear and nearly eliminating residual deformation. However, the corresponding seismic design method is still under development. To this end, this paper extended the performance-based plastic design (PBPD) method to hybrid braced frames (HBFs) equipped with SCBs and FVDBs. The PBPD method selected target drift and yield mechanism at the very beginning of the design procedure, and then it derived the design base shear using energy equivalent concept. The key step was to obtain the constant-ductility spectra of the equivalent single-degree-of-freedom systems through nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA). The regression functions of the spectra were then incorporated with the PBPD procedure. A six-story steel frame was selected for demonstrating the design method. A total of 4 HBFs were designed by defining 4 levels of viscous damping ratio (ξv) supplemented by FVDBs. The seismic responses of the designed HBFs were examined by subjecting them to 20 earthquake ground motions. The NLTHA results indicated that the designed HBFs can well satisfy the performance targets. The design method was robust, although the ξv values were varied in a wide range. The design method may also shed light to the other types of hybrid systems with displacement- and velocity- dependent damping braces.