Evaluating Frame Action on a Corner Gusset Connection in Steel Buckling-Restrained Braced Frames: Seismic Design and Experimental Study

This work presents test and finite element analysis results for a steel buckling-restrained braced frame(BRBF).The objectives are to evaluate the forces of frame and brace actions on the corner gusset plate and to develop a method that considers both action forces in design.In the cyclic test of the frame,the BRBF subassembly exhibited excellent performance up to an interstory drift of 2% with a maximum axial strain of 1.7% in the proposed buckling-restrained brace(BRB).Neither BRB nor corner gusset plate buckled during the frame test.By idealizing the corner gusset plate as a strut,a strut model can be used to determine forces resulting from the frame action,which are the same order as brace forces.Considering stress distributions and force components from the frame and brace actions,maximum stresses in gusset tips are used as an additional design parameter for sizing a gusset plate and stiffeners to reach maximum compression capacity of the BRB.