Energy dissipation estimation of steel slit shear panel dampers with tapered links considering the effect of out-of-plane buckling

The steel slit shear panel (SSSP) with tapered links is one type of efficient energy-dissipating devices, with tapered shape of the links accommodating the bending moment demand when subjected to lateral shear deformation. To dissipate the maximum amount of seismic energy, full plasticity is expected to be developed. However, out-of-plane buckling, which is almost inevitable for thin plates, significantly reduces its energy dissipation capacity. This work aims to quantify the amount of energy dissipation of SSSPs with tapered links considering the effect of out-of-plane buckling. Quasi-static cyclic loading tests on five SSSP specimens with different design parameters are conducted, based on which the refined numerical model is built and validated. In estimating the energy dissipation, the effect of out-of-plane buckling needs to be considered. Otherwise, the estimated energy dissipation can be as much as over two times the tested value. To consider the effect of out-of-plane buckling, the index of average pinching parameter is adopted. A new method is derived for estimating the energy dissipation of SSSPs with considering the effect of out-of-plane buckling, feasibility of which is validated using the obtained test results.