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Cast Fuse Braces: Design and Implementation

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Synonyms

Cast steel yielding brace system

Introduction

The yielding brace system (YBS) is a seismic-resistant bracing system for concentrically braced frame building structures designed at the University of Toronto (Gray et al. 2013). The YBS consists of a special yielding connector, or fuse, at the end of a concentric steel brace. When large lateral earthquake forces are imposed on a building designed with the YBS, the connector’s specially designed triangular fingers yield in flexure. The yielding of the fingers dissipates seismic energy and limits the forces that the remaining structural elements must resist. This is analogous to the fuse in an electric circuit, which is why the yielding connector is sometimes called a “fuse.”

Yielding connectors are comprised of two castings which are connected to the end of a brace member. Each casting includes an elastic arm portion with a series of triangular yielding fingers. The ends of the yielding fingers are bolted to a fabricated splice...

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References

  • American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) (2010) ANSI/AISC 341-10 seismic provisions for structural steel buildings. AISC, Chicago

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  • Gray MG (2012) Cast steel yielding brace system for concentrically braced frames. University of Toronto PhD dissertation. University of Toronto, Toronto

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  • Gray MG, Christopoulos C, Packer JA (2013) Cast steel yielding brace system (YBS) for concentrically braced frames: concept development and experimental validations. ASCE J Struct Eng (in press). ASCE, Reston, Vol. 140, pp 04013095-1–04013095-11

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  • Mansour N, Christopoulos C, Tremblay R (2011) Experimental validation of replaceable shear links for eccentrically braced steel frames. ASCE J Struct Eng 137(10):1141–1152

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  • Shen Y, Christopoulos C, Mansour N, Tremblay R (2011) Seismic design and performance of steel moment-resisting frames with nonlinear replaceable links. ASCE J Struct Eng 137(10):1107–1117

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  • Tsai KC, Chen HW, Hong CP, Su YF (1993) Design of steel triangular plate energy absorbers for seismic-resistant construction. Earthq Spectra 9(3):505–528

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Correspondence to Michael Gray .

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Gray, M. (2015). Cast Fuse Braces: Design and Implementation. In: Beer, M., Kougioumtzoglou, I.A., Patelli, E., Au, SK. (eds) Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35344-4_314

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