Investigation the Sidesway Collapse and Seismic Fragility Analysis of Frames with BRB Equipped with SMAs

Although Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRBs) can dissipate a large amount of the seismic input energy. However, they need to be repaired or replaced due to large permanent deformation after a severe earthquake. To overcome this issue, the use of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) in the braces has recently received attention. These alloys are able to return to their original state after loading. The present study aims to analyze the fragility curves and to investigate the sidesway collapse of the BRB frames equipped with SMA during near-field earthquakes in comparison with those given for the case without SMA. For the purposes, two 5 and 15-story BRB and BRB-SMA frames subjected to 7-pair of near-fault earthquake records are studied. Nonlinear Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDAs) are carried out using OpenSees software. On average, the simulation results showed that collapse capacity and collapse duration of the BRB-SMA frames are about 30% and 35% more than those given for the BRB frames, respectively. For an instance, a collapse probability of 38% for the 5-story BRB-SMA frame and a collapse probability of 60% for the BRB frame is given for 3g spectral acceleration. Furthermore, at the performance level of 50% for the 15-story frame, the collapse duration of the BRB-SMA frame is obtained 25.6 seconds, while it is given about 10 seconds for the BRB frame. In addition, the use of a memory alloy for spectral accelerations of 1 to 4 g resulted in a reduction of 50% to reach the collapse performance level of the frames.