RESTORING FORCE MODEL AND EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF AN ASSEMBLED SELF-CENTERING ENERGY DISSIPATION BRACE

An assembled self-centering energy dissipation (ASCED) brace is proposed, which consists of an inner bar, an outer tube, a friction energy dissipation system and a disc-spring self-centering system. The working principle and mechanical behavior of the ASCED brace under low cyclic loading are presented. A restoring force model of the ASCED brace is developed on the basis of the classical Bouc-Wen model. An ASCED brace specimen with a total length of 1.2 m was designed and fabricated, and a series of quasi-static tests were conducted to study its hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation capacity, residual deformation and other properties. The results indicate that the friction energy dissipation system and the disc-spring self-centering system of the ASCED brace can work together effectively, and the ASCED brace exhibits full hysteretic responses with stable energy dissipation and excellent self-centering capabilities. The hysteresis curve calculated by the restoring force model agrees well with the experimental results and has similar residual deformation, indicating that the proposed restoring force model can accurately describe the hysteretic behavior and self-centering performance of the ASCED brace.