Analytical Simulations for Shaking Table Tests of a Full Scale Buckling Restrained Braced Frame

Abstract The seismic response tests of a full-scale five-story passively-controlled steel building have been conducted on the EDefense shaking table in Japan in March 2009. Before the tests, a blind prediction contest was held to allow researchers and practitioners from all over the world to construct numerical model and predict the dynamic responses of the building frame equipped with buckling restrained braces or viscous dampers. This paper presents the response predictions made before the tests of the buckling restrained braced frame (BRBF). A three-dimensional shell finite element subassembly model was constructed to investigate the stiffness of the buckling-restrained brace end joint. The dynamic test results of the sample steel dampers provided by the organizer were used to calibrate the BRB strength in the numerical model. The details of the numerical model for the composite beam, hollow structural section column, and the beam-to-column panel zone are described. Base on the numerical and test analyses, effective numerical models are presented and the recommended nonlinear modeling techniques for BRBF are provided.