Cyclic Behavior and Performance of U-Shaped Damper for Seismic-Resistant Design

Metallic yield damper has been considered a reliable solution for the seismic-resistant design and widely applied in recent years for construction engineering. The U-shaped device is one of the most commonly used metal yielding devices in practice, based on its benefitssuch as low-cost, flexible application, and high-efficiency. However,the large plastic deformation during loading making it is difficult topredict its behavior and assess its seismic performance, especiallyin the practical design, where a suitable estimated behavior of thedevice is needed. This paper aims to investigate the seismic performance of the U-shaped damper subjected to the cyclic loading indifferent operating directions and gives approximate formulas to estimate its nonlinear behavior for its selection and sizing in the preliminary design. Analytical procedures and 3D finite element analysesare carried out to determine the variability of the device parameterswith various effects, including geometrical parameters, displacementamplitudes, and operating directions. The results present a high seismic performance of the U-shaped damper based on its great plasticdeformation capacity. The best efficiency of the device correspondsto the in-plane operation. Furthermore, an approximate predictionof the nonlinear behavior of U-shaped dampers is proposed for thetwo orthogonal operating directions of the device by the equivalentbilinear hysteresis. The material properties, geometrical parameters,and deformation rates are considered the key parameters to predictthe hysteretic behavior of the U-shaped device. © 2022 L&H Scientific Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.