Ductility and Ultimate Strength of Eccentric Braced Frame

Eccentrically braced frames have high stiffness against the lateral loads such as earthquake and perfect ability to absorb energy. Link beam, one of the most important parts of the frame, guarantees the required stiffness and ductility of the frame. The role of stiffeners and ductility of the frame depends on the link beam characteristics. The best situation for perfect stiffness and ductility occurs when the link beam works in shear. This is when the role of stiffeners in preventing the early buckling of the web is of a great importance. Placing proper stiffeners on the web of the beam develops the ability of absorbing high amount of energy. In this study the behavior of eccentrically braced frames, role of stiffeners and other parameters of the link beam on the ultimate strength and ductility of the frame are considered using finite elements model and ANSYS software.