LAUSR

Abstract Slit dampers are a specific type of metallic yielding dampers, which are created by cutting a series of slits/openings in metal plates subjected to in-plane shear deformation. These slits/openings divide the metal plates into a number of links that dissipate the input energy through their plastic in-plane deformations. In this paper, a new brace-type slit damper (BSD) is proposed, and the behavior of the structure equipped with it is studied numerically. It consists of two diagonal members on both sides of a slit plate with a designed geometry for its links. Each diagonal member is pinned to the beam at one end and at the other end is only constrained against out-of-plane displacement by a gusset plate. First, the accuracy of numerical models is validated by a series of available experimental results. Then, a parametric study is performed on the frames equipped with the proposed damper to determine the effects of geometrical parameters of the damper on the behavior of the frame. After that, analytical equations are developed to predict the behavior of BSD and structures equipped with it. A simple and robust method is also proposed to simulate the behavior of all damper components with an equivalent diagonal member in structural analysis softwares. Afterwards, using this approach, several multi-story building frames equipped with the proposed damper are modeled and the seismic behavior of these frames is evaluated using nonlinear time history analyses. The results show that all studied frames have completely stable hysteresis curves under all records, and no crack was observed in the damper links at the end of the loadings. According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the proposed damper can be used as an efficient energy dissipating device in building structures.