University of British Columbia
Department of Civil Engineering
2011
Development of Innovative Steel Structural Systems for Seismic Applications in Canada
Resilient design of structures has become the new approach of designing new structural systems in the United States and Japan. The design approach focuses on minimizing the cost of the structure in both initial construction and lifetime maintenance cost of the facility. To achieve this higher performance objective, an innovative steel structural system, the steel Link Column Frame system, is proposed. The steel Link Column Frame system utilizes the concept of conventional steel moment resisting frame with added steel shear link beams to dissipate earthquake energy. This way, the advantages of steel moment resisting frame (without diagonal bracing) are retained and the lateral stiffness is improved by including steel shear link beams. The figure above shows a conceptual configuration of the steel Link Column Frame system.
This project involves the development and analytical evaluation of the steel Link Column Frame using finite element analysis. The cost benefit factor of adding the additional steel link columns and beams will also be investigated. Experimental tests, conducted elsewhere, will be used to validate the analytical models. The research will lead to the development of simplified design procedures.