STUDY ON SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF SELF-CENTERING PRESTRESSED CONCRETE FRAMES WITH WEB FRICTION DEVICES

The self-centering prestressed concrete (SCPC) frame with web friction devices is a novel seismic structure. To study the seismic performance of an SCPC frame, a numerical simulation method is investigated and validated via existing low cyclic loading tests on an SCPC beam-column onnection. A numerical model for a four-bay, six-story SCPC frame is developed, and nonlinear static and time-history analyses are conducted for SCPC frames as well as a traditional RC frame. The analysis results show that the seismic performance of the SCPC frame is similar to that of the traditional RC frame under frequent earthquakes. Subjected to the severe earthquakes, the traditional RC frame has significant residual drifts, while the SCPC frame shows desirable energy dissipation, self-centering, and moment-resisting capabilities. Thusly, compared to a conventional RC frame, an SCPC frame has a superior performance.