Investigation of bearing capacity of the proposed circular lateral bracing system with friction seat connection with column

To reduce the damage and casualties caused by earthquakes, researchers made efforts to introduce seismic resistant structural systems. One of the new lateral force-resisting systems is the steel circular braced system called “Ogrid”. Previous studies shown the high energy dissipation and ductility of this system. This system has a high capacity to withstand nonlinear deformations after the formation of the first plastic hinge until collapse. In the present study, an attempt has been made to introduce a new type of this brace with different types of brace connection to beam and column and to evaluate its performance. For this purpose, the OGrid is used and different connections of the frame to the circular brace that embrace the connection of the brace to the beam and to the columns, as well as comparing the presence of friction and the absence of friction between the brace and the frame are modeled and the results are reviewed. It is found that by releasing the connection of the circular brace with I-shaped cross section to the column and creating friction between them with a coefficient of 0.5, the bearing capacity increases up to 22% compared to the restrained connection. In this case, before yielding, softening is observed in the proposed model, but after yielding compared to the model with restrained connection, better energy dissipation occurs due to deformations in the circular brace. Meanwhile, bearing capacity increases up to 8% by considering friction between the brace and increases up to 17% by considering friction between the brace and the column comparing with the released connections. On the other hand, the use of H-shaped circular brace with friction connection to the column and/or beam is not recommended due to the reduction of bearing capacity by at least 9% compared to the restrained connection.