Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655

www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Passive energy dissipation device for typical steel frame building

in Iran
*
M. Tehranizadeh
Professor of Civil Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 37 Salmack Street, Vali Aasr Ave, Tajrish, Tehran, Iran

Received 19 July 1999; received in revised form 10 July 2000; accepted 10 July 2000

Abstract

In order to achieve economical earthquake-resistant constructions building structures must be constructed to dissipate a large
amount of seismic energy. Added damping and stiffness (ADAS) elements are designed to dissipate energy through the flexural
yielding deformation of mild-steel plates. In this paper, recent research findings on the effectiveness of using steel plate welded as
the added damping and stiffness (ADAS) device for earthquake-resistant structure on an interesting type of semi-rigid steel naming
connection which is commonly used in Iran (including in seismic zone) are presented. Experimental results indicate that a properly
designed (ADAS) device can sustain a large number of yielding reversals without any stiffness or strength degradation. A research
program was under taken to investigate the behavioral aspect of a half scale model of the 4-story structure frame upgraded with
ADAS elements and subjected to dynamic loads. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: ADAS device; Khorjinee connection; Energy dissipation device

1. Introduction ductility [14]. Simply stated, the earthquake input

The presence of some damping (energy dissipation)
in conventional building has long been recognized and
accepted by practicing professional engineers. Although
the nature of the energy dissipation inherent in buildings
has not been explicitly identified, inherent equivalent
viscous damping in the range of two percent to five per-
cent of critical has become accepted in practice for linear
response analysis of typical buildings. In fact, most
design spectra are developed assuming about five per-
cent of critical viscous damping in the system.
The use of mechanical dampers provides the means
for consuming the kinetic energy of a vibrating building
without sacrificing the integrity of primary structure
elements, and also represents an effective method for
reducing the possibility of resonant response. The devel-
opment and characterization of these devices has lead to
a seismic design philosophy based upon increasing the
energy dissipation capacity of a structural frame as
opposed to relying upon increased frame stiffness and
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +9821-8777-098; fax: +9821-8777-
100.
energy can now be absorbed by the deformation of these
mechanical dampers as opposed to the yielding and con-
sequential damage of main structural members. Further-
more, by incorporating mechanical damping devices in
a structural frame, it is possible to increase the energy
dissipation capabilities of the structure while reducing
its accelerations and inertial loads. The end result is
improved seismic structural response due to a simul-
taneous reduction in base shear and interstory drift.
The amount of energy transmitted to a structure during
an earthquake depends mainly on the ratio of the funda-
mental period of the structure to the predominant period
of the ground motion. The damage experienced by a
structure as a result of an earthquake is directly related
to the amount of hysteric energy absorbed by inelastic
deformations of the various elements of the structure as
it deforms.
Conventional seismic design practice permits the
reduction of forces for design below the elastic level on
the premise that inelastic action in a suitably designed
structure will provide that structure with significant
energy dissipation potential and enabled it to survive a
severe earthquake without collapse. This inelastic action
is typically intended to occur in specially detailed critical

0141-0296/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 1 - 0 2 9 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 8 2 - 1
644 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655
regions of the structure, usually in the beams near or
adjacent to the beam column joints. Inelastic behavior
in these regions, while able to dissipate substantial
energy, also often results in significant damage to the
structural member, and although the regions maybe well
detailed, their hysteretic behavior will degrade with
repeated inelastic cycling. The interstory drifts required
to achieve significant hysteretic energy dissipation in
critical regions are generally large and usually result in
substantial damage to non-structural elements such as
infill walls, partitions, doorways and ceilings.
As a response to the shortcoming inherent in the
philosophy of conventional seismic design, a number of
innovative approaches have been developed. One of
these approaches involves adding energy absorbers to
structure. The aim of including energy absorbers in a
structure for earthquake resistance is to concentrate hys-
teretic behavior in specially designed and detailed
regions of the structure and to avoid inelastic behavior in
primary gravity load resisting structural elements (except
perhaps under the most severe conditions).
Numerous different types of energy-absorbing devices
have been proposed for this purpose. In recent years, a
number of researchers have investigated techniques of
increasing the building energy absorbing capacity
through the use of steel plate added damping and stiff-
ness (ADAS) device [5]. These studies have confirmed
that the ADAS device using x-shaped steel plates is suit-
able for buildings to resist earthquake forces.
Since the bending curvature produced by a transverse
force applying at the end of the triangular plate is uni-
form over the full height of the plate, the plate can
deform well into the inelastic range without curvature
concentration. The steel triangular-shaped plate has been
successfully applied in the energy-absorbing restrainers
for piping systems in nuclear power plants. Recent
research results have indicated that steel triangular-
shaped plates cast as the added damping and stiffness
device possess adequate stiffness and strength, however,
the ductility and the energy dissipation capacities of the
cast steel device may not be adequate to survive a severe
earthquake. Therefore, a combined experimental and
analytical investigation on the effectiveness of steel
welded triangular plate added damping and stiffness
(TADAS) device was conducted at National Taiwan
University [6]. Recently, advancement in detailing and
fabrication of welded TADAS device has also been
made and documented [7].
2. Basic mechanical characteristics of the ADAS
device
Up to now, the numerical modeling of the stiffness
and nonlinear behavior of the ADAS device has been
primarily based upon experimental data from test of
prototype devices (scale 1:1), similar to those that will
be used in the structure. Whittaker et al. [5] have
presented an analytical procedure to define the load
deformation curve of the ADAS device, assuming an
equivalent X-triangular-shaped geometry. Although the
method is simple, its results are limited if more rigorous
analyses are to be done. The use of a detailed finite
element mesh to model an ADAS device is reasonable
to study the behavior of the device alone; however, it is
not practical for studying the nonlinear dynamic
behavior of multi-story structures with several ADAS
devices. Recently, a microscopic mechanist approach
has been proposed for metallic dampers the applicability
of which could be tested for the ADAS device.
An idealization of the geometry of an ADAS device
is given in Fig. 1. Here, the layout of the ADAS is hour-
glass shaped. These devices are made with tapered struc-
tural steel plates designed to work primarily in double
curvature, which makes their layout more efficient as
these elements yield almost along their entire length.
Because of its particular tapered shape, the compu-
tation of the stiffness and the plastic capacities of the
ADAS device are nontrivial. Whittaker et al. [5] pro-
posed a simple procedure to define the loaddeflection
curve for the ADAS devices, using an equivalent X-
shaped idealization of the plates [Fig. 1(b)], are inscribed
inside the actual profile of the ADAS. Their method is
based on the following assumptions: firstly, the X-plates
are rigidly restrained at their ends; secondly, the X-plates
deform in double curvature, antisymmetric all about their
midheight; and finally, the equivalent width of the X-
plates at their ends is equal to half its height (b1eq=l/2).
The loaddeformation curve in shear of the ADAS can
be idealized as an elastic perfectly plastic curve [Fig.
2(a)], or as a bilinear one [Fig. 2(b)], as recommended
in the literature. In the procedure by Whittaker et al. [5]
the yielding point is defined from the proposed equival-
ent geometry.
Whittaker et al. [5] do not specify the expression they
used to define the yielding displacements reported on
Fig. 1. Added damping and stiffness (ADAS) element.
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655 645

nominal shape of the ADAS, therefore, the computed

Fig. 2. (a) Elastic-perfectly-plastic idealization; (b) bilinear idealiz-
ation. Load-deformation curve in shear of the ADAS.
their analytical studies. However, it seems that these dis-
placements were computed from the double integration
of the average plastic curvature and the yield displace-
ment y is
shear capacity and stiffness is underestimated with
respect to their theoretically exact analytical values. In
addition, the modeling of the ADAS is based entirely on
a shear criterion, neglecting other effects that might be
relevant, such as the impact of axial forces and out-of-
plane bending. It was observed, from some test results,
that axial forces can be an important factor in the
dynamic behavior of the ADAS device when subjected
to large deformations, therefore, this effect needs to be
evaluated both analytically and experimentally.
A more rigorous procedure to model the ADAS
devices is based upon the flexibility method. The method
is robust and can not only define the loaddeformation

curve in shear of the ADAS but can also define an
Mpx(z) ADAS element model that can be implemented in stan-
y dd (1)
EIx(z) z z dard structural analysis or finite element computer pro-
grams.
Where
b(z)t3
Ix(z) (2) 3. Proposed analytical method
12
b(z)t2 3.1. Stiffness formulation
Mpx(z)syZxsy (3)
4
The stiffness matrix of an elastic nonprismatic
Therefore, according to the method proposed by Whit- element, such as the plates that compose the ADAS
taker et al. [5] the plastic yielding displacement of each device, can be defined using the flexibility method. The
equivalent X-shaped plate is hourglass shape of each plate that composes the ADAS
[Fig. 1(a)] can be approximated using an exponential
3syl2 function as
PL (4)
4 Et
b(z)b1eaz 0zl/2 (7)
b(z)b2ea(zl/2) l/2zl (8)
The plastic shear capacity of each equivalent X-plate
of the ADAS is computed from the equilibrium equation
based upon the yielding moment capacity of the plate
[Eq. (3)], this is
2 b1
a ln
l b2 (9)

2Mpx syb1eqt2 A regression analysis of geometry of the ADAS

VPL
l 2l
Hence, the elastic shear stiffness of each equivalent
X-plate is calculated as
VPL
KPL
PL
For an ADAS device composed of n plates and ideal-
ized as proposed by Whittaker et al. [5], the plastic yield-
ing displacement is the one computed from Eq. (4)
where as the plastic shear capacity and the elastic shear
stiffness are n times the ones computed from Eqs. (5)
and (6), where n is the number of plate elements.
The procedure proposed by Whittaker et al. [5] is a
simple approximation, valid only for 2D modeling. Their
equivalent X-plate idealization is inscribed inside the
(5)
devices tested at the University of California at Berkeley
and reported by Whittaker et al. [5] was conducted to
obtain the best fit for the proposed exponential function.
The geometry of the ADAS device is closely represented
by the exponential functions. The width of the device is
slightly underestimated near the fixed ends and at mid-
(6)
span. This underestimation should not be critical because
the curvatures on those regions are small, as computed
and reported by Whittaker et al. [5]. The dimensions b1
and b2 for the best fit of the proposed exponential func-
tion are defined by
b10.60l (10)
b20.10l (11)
The influence of various ADAS element parameters
on the seismic response of building structures has been
646 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655
extensively analyzed [8]. In order to gain further insight
in to the effects of some important ADAS parameters
on the seismic response of building frames, nonlinear
response spectra of SDOF system were studied [6,7]. For
the purpose of discussion, an ADAS element is defined
as an ADAS device and two braces that support the
device. The horizontal stiffness of the ADAS element,
Kt , is a function of the lateral stiffness of the braces,
Kb and the device stiffness Ka . If the ratio of the hori-
zontal ADAS element stiffness, Kt, to the structural story
stiffness, without the ADAS device and braces in place,
Kf, is defined as SR [8], then:
Kt
SR
Kf
KbKa
Kt
Kb+Ka
4. Description and testing of ADAS elements
4.1. Description
ADAS elements consists of multiple X-shaped mild
steel plates configured in parallel between top and bot-
tom boundary connections (Fig. 3). The ADS elements
used in the test program described here were made from
A-36 steel and consisted of either four, or five plates.
The particular advantage of an X-plate is that, when
deformed in double curvature, the plate deformation is
uniform over its height, and when deformed into its plas-
tic regime, the yielding will be uniformly distributed. A
rectangular plate, when deformed plastically in double
curvature, will yield only at its ends. This concentration
is particularly undesirable both in terms of the amount
of energy that can be absorbed by such a deformation
pattern and by its inherent lack of stability and repeat-
ability in the plastic range.
The X-plate is a development from triangular plate
devices, which were developed in New Zealand [9,10]
and were first developed as a piping support element
[11]. X-plates have been used as the energy-dissipating
Fig. 3. Added damping and stiffness (ADAS) element.
component of a base isolation system in shake table
tests [12].
4.2. Component tests
Dynamic test of individual ADAS elements have been
extensively performed [13]. Sinusoidal displacements
were imposed on the elements, and the force and defor-
mation responses recorded. A typical hystersis loop from
one of the tests of 7-plate elements under sinusoidal dis-
placement, which has been done by Aiken et al. [13] is
shown in (Fig. 4). The primary factors affecting ADAS
element behavior are device elastic stiffness (Ke), yield
(12) strength (Ry), and yield displacement (y).
The tests showed that: ADAS elements are capable of
sustaining more than 100 loading cycles at a deformation
(13) amplitude of 3y with stable response and no signs of
degradation; ADAS elements can safely be designed for
displacement ranges up to about 10y ; and failure of
one ADAS element was induced by 15 cycles of loading
at an amplitude of 14y. The tests also indicated the
importance of rigid boundary connections for success-
ful1 performance of ADAS elements. Tests performed
by indicated similar results.
4.3. Device design parameters
The principal parameters that characterize the energy
dissipation capacity of yielding devices are the yield
force Ry yield displacement, y, and maximum displace-
ment. For the devices available, virtually any desired
combination of Ry and y values is feasible. Because of
the high strain fatigue associated with yielding devices,
they are deformation limited, and this is typically
described by ductility, m=/y and limiting values of
ductility are typically prescribed, depending on the
severity of the ground motion used for design. Finally,
Fig. 4. Plate ADAS element hysteric behavior.
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655
yielding devices exhibit some strain hardening as illus-
trated in Fig. 5. The strain hardening ratio, SHR, is typi-
cally small (0.010.1) and its effect on the response of
structures with yielding device dampers is to reduce lat-
eral deformations and increase the forces in a structure.
The presence of strain hardening calls in the same way
as increasing the yield force.
The devicesstructure interactive parameters that are
important for earthquake response are; (1) the ratio of
the bracing stiffness to the device stiffness Kb/Ka ; (2)
the ratio of the brace and device stiffness to the stiffness
Kt
of the structure, SR= ; and (3) the ratio of force in the
Kf
device to Kf the force in the structure, FR=Ry/P.
The importance of the ratio of the brace stiff nesses
to the device stiffness (Kb/Ka) varies significantly,
depending on the specific supplemental device and the
permissible magnitude of interstory drift. The specific
importance of the Kb/Ka ratio is revealed by considering
extreme values for the brace stiffness (Kb). If Kb is very
large, the device deformation is equal to the interstory
drift deformation and the energy dissipation is maxim-
ized. If the brace is very flexible, e.g. Kb0, the device
is not deformed and there is no energy dissipation. A
value of Kb2Ka has been found to be practical for the
design of yielding devices. This produces a reasonably
efficient system, and this stiffness ratio of 2 is about
consistent with brace member sizes established from
strength design considerations. It is clear from Eq. (13),
however, that the efficiency in driving supplemental
damping devices can be improved by increasing the
Kb/Ka stiffness ratio.
Fig. 6 clearly reveals the importance of SR for increas-
ing the damping in a structure with yielding devices. The
potential for increasing damping varies directly with
increasing SR values. Thus, the highest SR value feasible
is best. For practical design applications, however, it is
difficult to achieve SR values of 3 or 4. From the results
of extensive nonlinear computer simulation analyses per-
formed on a variety of multistory structures Xia and
Fig. 5. Idealized yielding device hystersis loops.
647
Fig. 6. Equivalent viscous damping for dual system.
Hanson [8] have concluded that SR2 is a desirable
value for design applications. Fig. 6 corroborates those
findings.
Increasing values of FR generally increase the equiv-
alent viscous damping as revealed in Fig. 6. However,
the figures also show that if FR is too large for a given
SR value, then equivalent viscous damping will be
reduced from its potential maximum. Fig. 6 can be used
as a guide for establishing an appropriate FR value fol-
lowing the selectionof a practical value.
5. Force vibration tests of a 1/2 scaled model of 4-
story steel ADAS structure with Khorjinee
connection
5.1. Model design and Khorjinee connection
characteristic
Semi-rigid connections in steel structures due to sim-
ple details and possibility of tuning the connections
stiffness which can optimize the distribution of moment
between connected elements has taken considerable
attention in recent years. A special type of semi-rigid
beam-to-column connections named as Khorjinee con-
nection has been developed in the past 50 years by prac-
ticing engineers in Iran because of its simplicity and
economic advantages. In these connections, a pair of
continues beams cross several columns and connect to
the sides of columns by means of angle sections (Fig.
7). This type of construction which saves on erection
time and labor cost, but also the limitations on the avail-
ability and the cost of deep rolled sections in the Country
makes the use of two parallel beams instead of one
deeper beam. Out-of-plane partial beam-to-column
transfer of bending moments and early onset of failure
in the angles are most likely the cause of failure under
lateral forces in this connection.
648 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655

Fig. 7. Typical shape of a Khorjinee connection, (a pair of continuous

beams cross the column and connect to the sides of column by means
of angle sections).

However the experiences of recent earthquakes in

Iran, especially the Manjil earthquake of 20 June 1990,
shows the poor behavior of the Khorjinee connection and
that most of the common steel structures fail due to its
joint failure. Theoretical and experimental researches has
been performed to study the static behavior of this con-
nection as well as its workability, stiffness and strength
using different models [1416]. It was found that the
behavior of this widely used connection cannot be mod-
eled by classical semi-rigid connection models and that
a special model has to be assumed that satisfies its Fig. 8. The 1/2 scaled model of 4-story steel structure with Khor-
dynamic behavior [17]. For purpose of studying the jinee connections.
dynamic behavior of a typical steel structure a 1/2 scaled
model of a 4-story steel structure with Khorjinee connec-
tion and jack-arch masonry floors has been designed,
constructed and tested by a pair of harmonic force
vibration exciters at International Institute of Earthquake
Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) structural labora-
tory as shown in Fig. 8. For purpose of vulnerability
analysis and proposing the retrofitting scheme, the model
was constructed based on the common practice of Iran-
ian steelworkers. The structural response is being moni-
tored and measured simultaneously by an 8 forced bal-
ance accelerometers and recorded by 8-channel digital
data acquisition system.

5.2. Force vibration tests and results

The effectiveness of ADAS device for buildings in
high seismic risk areas were further investigated using
force vibration testing procedure for a 1/2 scaled model
of 4-story steel structure with Khorjinee connection as
shown in Fig. 9. Figs. 3 and 10 show the dimensions
and member sizes of the test structure. The steel of
ADAS devices used in different levels is of A36 and
their properties are given in Table 1.
In the case of experimental studies of a model struc-
ture, it is desirable to choose a scaling factor, which is
Fig. 9. The 1/2-scaled model of 4-story upgraded structure with the
ADAS devices.
as close to unity as possible. However several constraints
control the scaling factor which in this case are: (1) the
size of the strong floor which in our case was only 33
m, (2) the smallest size of available rolled section which
in Iran is INP-180 (an I-beam with a section modulus
of S=20.0 cm3) and (3) having at least three frames each
with at least two spans in order to create the Khorjinee
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655 649

Iranian Building Code load requirement and modeling

technique requires 7.0 t of added mass on each floor.
Throughout this project in order to develop a new algor-
ithm for system identification, the added mass were
added at three different stages (1.0, 3.0, and 7.0 t).
The first and second mode frequencies of the structure
without the ADAS devices activated are 1.1 and 3.7 Hz
respectively, while the first and second mode periods of
the structure with the ADAS devices are 1.62 and 5.25
Hz respectively.
Force vibration tests were conducted on the 4-story
steel structure both with the ADAS upgrade and then
again in its bare configuration (no any ADAS elements).
This provided experimental data for direct comparisons
of the semi-rigid Khorjinee steel earning connection at
Fig. 10. Dimension and member sizes of the 1/2-scaled model of 4- the ADAS-frame. The first phase of the experimental
story steel structure with Khorjinee connection. work involved system. Identification tests for the Khor-
jinee steel framing connection without any bracing sys-
Table 1 tem and ADAS elements. The acceleration response
Properties of the plate devices for the ADAS elements spectrum of various levels of the structure has been per-
formed. Figs. 11 and 12 show the acceleration response
l (cm) b1 (cm) b2 (cm) b(z) (cm) t mm
2 spectra for the third and fourth floors of the structure, it
a= ln(b1/b2) can be seen that the acceleration of all stories reaches
l
its maximum at frequency near 1st mode (1.1 Hz) and
10.0 6.0 1.0 0.912 0.392e0.912z 0 2.0
l near the 2nd mode (3.7 Hz). Table 2 indicates the
z maximum acceleration and displacement in various lev-
2
els of the structure.
Although numerous force vibration tests of both struc-
connection. Considering these constraints, a scaling fac- tures were performed, only three tests will be discussed
tor of 2 and a floor system similar to that shown in Fig. in detail here. For the case of chevron bracing and the
8 with center-to-center distance of columns (in the y- ADAS elements four different tests C, D, E and F have
direction) of 2 m have been selected. The minimum two been implemented so that the dynamic load gradually
span requirement of each frame called for a total of 4 increase from C to F tests. Figs. 13 and 14 show the
m for the width of each frame and in order to compen- acceleration response spectra for the third and fourth
sate for the 1-m shortening of our strong floor, three floors of the both structures according to experimental
heavy H-sections were bolted down to the strong floor.
The three frames were erected on these H-sections. The
center-to-center distance of columns in the x-direction
became 1.5 m. Nine joists with a distance of 0.5 m filled
with scaled masonry blocks in the form of an arch
covered the space between each frame.
The ADAS elements were installed at the top of chev-
ron brace sub-assemblages that were added to the semi-
rigid Khorjinee, steel-earning connection. The sizes of
the ADAS elements were varied up the structure, with
5-plate devices at the first and second floors, 4-plate
devices at the third and fourth floors.
For forced vibration test of the model, a pair of har-
monic force exciters was utilized with capability of
inducing transnational and torsional dynamic force at the
top floor of the structure. The exciters can be adjusted
to produce a maximum force of 16.1f2 kgf, where f is
the operating frequency that can vary from 1 to 20 Hz.
The responses were measured by 8-channel on-line data
acquisition system with force balance accelerometers. Fig. 11. Acceleration response spectrum for the third floor of the
The 1/2-scaled model of the 4-story structure based on structure without the ADAS device.
650 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655
Fig. 12. Acceleration response spectrum for the fourth floor of the
structure without devices.
Fig. 13. Acceleration response spectrum for the 3rd floor of the both
structures in test C with and without ADAS.
data of tests. It can be seen that the addition of the chev-
ron bracing and the ADAS elements increased the
Khorjinee steel framing connection first-mode fre-
quency from 1.1 to 1.62 Hz. The response envelope for
the structure subjected to this input presented in Table 3.
The first-mode frequency of the structure with ADAS
devices activated in test E respect to the test C reduces
to 1.54 Hz. As it can be observed from the Table 4 and
also from (Figs. 15 and 16) the response envelope of all
levels of the structure increase while the input increases,
but the first-mode frequency decreases, because the mul-
Table 2
Response envelope in various levels of the structure without the ADAS devices
Specifications Experimental data for the structure without ADAS elements
Story level 1st floor
1st mode frequency 1.1
Maximum story acceleration (cm/s2) 0.01264
Peak interstory drift index 0.00026
Fig. 14. Acceleration response spectrum for the 4th floor of both
structures with and without ADAS in test C.
tiple x-shaped mild steel plate deformed in to its plastic
regime and the yielding was distributed, consequently
the stiffness of the structure decreases.
The peak interstory drift index for the Khorjinee
steel framing connection was 0.58% in forced vibration
test type F, while for the ADAS-frame it was 0.30%.
Displacement responses at different levels of the struc-
ture under various dynamic loads and the first mode fre-
quency of the structure for various types of tests at
second floor for both structures are compared in Figs.
17 and 18 respectively. As shown in Fig. 17 the elastic
frame responses under the dynamic loads were greatly
reduced when ADAS devices were activated. The
addition of the ADAS-bracing assemblage significantly
improved the overall performance of the structure and
enabled it to withstand much bigger dynamic loads with
acceptable drift response.
6. Characteristic of analytical model
In the case of an analytical study of a model structure,
the full scale of the experimental model, for seismic per-
formance enhancement both with the ADAS upgrade
and then again in its bare configuration (no ADAS
elements) have been considered. The geometric specifi-
cations of the analytical model are given in Table 5. The
model has been analyzed and the results are carried out
and presented by tables and graphs. The size of the
2nd floor 3rd floor 4th floor
1.1 1.1 1.1
0.04966 0.06609 0.0820
0.0010 0.00138 0.0017
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655 651

Table 3
Response envelope in various levels of the upgraded structure in test C

Specifications Experimental data of test C for the upgraded structure

Story level 1st floor 2nd floor 3rd floor 4th floor
1st mode frequency 1.62 1.62 1.62 1.62
Maximum story acceleration (cm/s2) 0.0198 0.0349 0.04068 0.04290
Peak interstory drift index 0.000191 0.000337 0.000393 0.0041

Table 4
Response envelope in various levels of the upgraded structure in test E

Specifications Experimental data of test E for the upgraded structure

Story level 1st floor 2nd floor 3rd floor 4th floor
1st mode frequency 1.54 1.54 1.54 1.54
Maximum story acceleration (cm/s2) 0.5209 0.78139 0.11867 0.12738
Peak interstory drift index 0.000568 0.000846 0.001285 0.001379

Fig. 15. Acceleration response spectrum for the 3rd floor of both
structures with and without ADAS in test E.

ADAS elements were varied up to the model structure
and the properties of the ADAS devices are those
reported as experimental and are given in Table 1.
It can be deduced by comparing Tables 1 and 5 that
the columns, beams and braces have much more strength
than the ADAS devices; thus, the nonlinear action
should be concentrated in the energy dissipation devices,
as wanted in the forced vibration tests.
Semi-rigid connections can be divided in two groups
of continuous and discrete connections. In order to
model the continuous semi-rigid Khorjinee connection a
spring element at the connection of the beam and column
has been used. This element works between beam and
column and has very large flexural stiffness in two direc-
tions and a torsional stiffness equal to K=GJ/L. The
model structure with the assumed connection stiffness
has been analyzed.
Fig. 16. Acceleration response spectrum for 4th floor of both struc-
tures with and without ADAS in test E.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of an ADAS-
upgraded structure (Fig. 7) a DRAIN-2DX model for the
3D analytical model was prepared. A 2D ADAS element
was developed for DRAIN-2DX by modifying an exist-
ing prismatic beam-column element to predict the seis-
mic response at all levels of earthquake ground motion.
The response envelopes for the structure subjected to
three severs following time scaled earthquake records as
shown in Figs. 19 and 20.
1. Naghan earthquake 1977, PGA=0.35 g
2. Tabas earthquake 1978, PGA=0.35 g
3. El Centro earthquake 1940, PGA=0.35 g
652 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655

Code), where R is the reduction factor for the different

Fig. 17. Displacement response at different levels of the structure
under A, E and F dynamic tests (A; structure without ADAS devices
E and F; upgraded structures with ADAS device).
structural systems.
The response envelope for the structures under the
three different earthquakes is presented in Table 6. This
table shows that the maximum interstory drifts of ADAS
frame is under allowable drift (1.6 cm). The numerical
results show that, the application of ADAS devices in
chevron braced names causes 68, 63 and 42% reduction
in maximum lateral displacement under El Centro, Tabas
and Naghan earthquakes respectively. Maximum story
shear and overturning moment for both with and without
ADAS device models are also given in Table 6. It can
be seen that, the displacement, velocity and acceleration
responses of ADAS frames in all cases are less than
frames without ADAS devices for all different time dur-
ation of earthquake. Response to the Naghan earthquake
is compared in Fig. 21.
These results show that installation of ADAS devices
in hinge braced frames causes 4060% improvement in
response. The structure will remain in the elastic region
due to this amount of reduction in displacement and
internal forces of structural members.

7. Conclusions

This paper studies an experimental and analytical

Fig. 18. First frequency of the chevron bracing and the ADAS
elements for four different C,D,E and F tests at second floor, (the
dynamic load gradually increase from C to F tests).
Have been carried out. The structural members design
of the analytical models has been accomplished based on
the specifications of Iranian Building Code (Iran 2800).
Analytical results show that the ADAS devices are
very effective in the reducing seismic structural response
at all levels of earthquake ground motion, since in all
cases the maximum interstory drifts of ADAS frame
models are below the allowable maximum drift, (the
maximum interstory drift index is 0.03/R in Iran 2800
investigation on the application of ADAS devices as
energy dissipation devices on an interesting type of
semi-rigid steel earning connection under dynamic loads.
The effectiveness of the ADAS devices was evaluated
by comparing the response of the structure containing
the ADAS elements with the response of the same struc-
ture with its bare configuration (no any ADAS
elements). The benefits of the energy dissipaters have
been clearly demonstrated by these comparisons, and
also by associated analytical studies. The improvements
in performance have been shown to stem primarily from
the increase in energy dissipation available with in the
structure.
The seismic performance of a half scale model of the
4-story structure frame upgraded with ADAS elements
was considerably improved in its lateral-resisting sys-
tem. The dissipation characteristics of the ADAS
elements are reliable, and the devices become more

Table 5
Geometric properties of the full scale of the experimental model

Floor Column Beam Bracing

Sx (cm3) A (cm2) Sx (cm3) A (cm2) Sx=Sy(cm3) A (cm2)

4 61.9 39.2 320.0 30.36 5.29 6.91

3 61.9 39.2 320.0 30.56 5.29 6.91
2 61.9 39.2 320.0 30.56 5.29 6.91
1 61.9 39.2 320.0 30.56 5.29 6.91
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655 653

Fig. 20. Response spectra of El Centro, Tabas and Naghan earth-

quakes scaled to 0.35 g.

Fig. 19. Time histories of El Centro, Tabas and Naghan earthquakes

scaled to 0.35 g. effective at absorbing energy as the intensity of the input
motion increases.
The research program demonstrated that ADAS
elements possess characteristics that make them suitable
for use as energy dissipation devices in new and existing
buildings. One practical configuration for installing
654 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655

Table 6
Response envelope for the Khorjinee and ADAS structures under El Centro, Tabas and Naghan earthquakes respectively

El Centro earthquake Tabas earthquake Naghan earthquake

Response Floor Khorjinee ADAS structure Khorjinee ADAS structure Khorjinee ADAS structure
structure sructure structure

Maximum story shear 4 310.0 112.0 320.0 105.0 301.0 104.0

(KN)
3 392.0 135.0 412.0 124.0 383.0 127.0
2 480.0 162.0 545.0 154.0 473.0 125.0
1 541.0 198.0 493.0 197.0 496.0 164.0
Maximum overturning 4 1303.0 424.0 1126.0 330.0 997.0 312.0
moment (KN-m)
3 2395.0 808.0 2003.0 705.0 2012.0 673.0
2 3810.0 1157.0 3412.0 1025.0 3204.0 946.0
1 5009.0 1609.0 5020.0 1602.0 4265.0 1212.0
Maximum lateral 4 11.0 3.5 5.2 1.9 3.3 1.9
displacement (cm)
3 8.6 3.2 4.2 1.5 2.8 1.6
2 3.7 2.9 3.1 1.3 2.4 1.4
1 2.0 1.3 2.1 1.1 1.0 0.6
Interstory drift (cm) 4 2.4 0.3 1.0 0.4 0.5 0.3
3 4.9 0.3 1.1 0.2 0.4 0.8
2 1.7 0.6 1.0 0.2 1.4 0.8
1 2.0 1.3 2.1 1.1 1.0 0.6

ADAS devices in a new and existing Khorjinee frame

is in conjunction with a chevron brace assemblage as
was used in the test structure studied to reduce its seis-
mic response and control low-cycle fatigue which is a
main factor for the failure of this kind of the structure.
The devicestructure interactive parameters are
important for earthquake response. The specific impor-
tance of the ratio of the bracing stiffness to the device
stiffness Kb/Ka is revealed by considering extreme values
for the brace stiffness (Kb).
A value of Kb2Ka has been found to be practical for
the design of yielding devices. This produces a reason-
ably efficient system, and this stiffness ratio of 2 is about
consistent with brace member sizes established from
strength design considerations.
The ratio of the brace and device stiffness to the stiff-
ness of the structure , SR=Kt/Kf2 has been found to be
desirable value for design applications.
From the experimental data of the tests it can be seen
that the addition of the chevron and the ADAS elements
increased the Khorjinee steel framing connection first-
mode frequency, but while the input increases the fast-
mode frequency decreases, because the multiple x-
shaped mild steel plate deformed in to its plastic regime
and the yielding was distributed, consequently the stiff-
ness of the structure decreases.
Results of tests of a structure indicate the benefit of
the addition of ADAS elements and bracing to the lateral
system in improving its seismic resistance.
Fig. 21. Comparison of displacement responses for the Khorjinee and
ADAS structures under Naghan earthquake.
 M. Tehranizadeh / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 643655
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