The project is investigating a family of innovative
self-centering (SC) steel frame systems with the potential to withstand
the currently accepted design basis ... (more)

The project is investigating a family of innovative
self-centering (SC) steel frame systems with the potential to withstand
the currently accepted design basis earthquake (DBE) for buildings
without damage. The project goals are: to develop fundamental knowledge
of the seismic behavior of SC steel frame systems; to conduct integrated
design, analysis, and experimental research on SC steel frame systems,
using the enabling facilities of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for
Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES); to develop performance-based,
reliability-based seismic design procedures and criteria for SC steel
frame systems; and to educate students and practitioners with
fundamental and practical knowledge about SC steel frame systems.Unlike
conventional earthquake-resistant steel frame systems that are designed
to develop significant inelastic deformations under the DBE, resulting
in significant damage as well as residual drift, the innovative SC steel
frame systems developed by the project have the potential to avoid
structural damage under the DBE as a result of several features: the
lateral force-drift behavior softens without inelastic deformation of
the structural members, and, therefore, without the resulting structural
damage and residual drift; the softening behavior is created by gap
opening at selected post-tensioned connections (e.g., a separation at
the beam-column interfaces of the frame); the ductility capacity of the
lateral force-drift behavior can be quite large and is not controlled by
material ductility capacity; and energy dissipation under seismic
loading is not from damage to main structural members, but from energy
dissipation elements that are specified in the design process and can be
replaced if damaged.Both self-centering moment resisting frames
(SC-MRFs) and self-centering concentrically-braced frames (SC-CBFs) are
being studied with the goals of: (1) developing fundamental knowledge of
the seismic behavior of SC-MRF systems and SC-CBF systems, (2) using the
research facilities of NEES to conduct integrated design, analysis, and
experimental research on SC-MRF and SC-CBF systems, and (3) developing
performance-based, reliability-based seismic design procedures and
criteria for SC-MRF and SC-CBF systems.The project scope includes nine
research tasks and a number of educational, outreach, and dissemination
activities focused on SC steel frame systems. The research team will
develop reliability-based seismic design procedures, system concepts and
details, and energy dissipation elements for SC steel frame systems;
will develop sensor networks to monitor and assess SC steel frame
systems; and will design prototype buildings using SC steel frame
systems, perform nonlinear analyses of these prototype buildings, and
conduct large-scale laboratory simulations on specimens derived from the
prototype buildings. The project requires the use of the Real-Time
Multidirectional Testing Facility for Seismic Performance Simulation of
Large-Scale Structural Systems (RTMD) NEES equipment site at Lehigh for
large-scale earthquake simulations to achieve its goals. The hybrid
(pseudo-dynamic) testing method will be utilized, and when needed, the
real-time hybrid testing method and real-time capabilities of the RTMD
will be used as well.The project team is multi-organizational, involving
Lehigh, Princeton, and Purdue Universities, multi-disciplinary and
diverse. The team includes international participation from the National
Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan, and
will be advised by a board of individuals from engineering firms well
known in the US and international earthquake and structural engineering
communities. (hide)

Equipment	Component	Equipment Class	Facility
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Actuator 2	Hydraulic Actuator	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Actuator 3	Hydraulic Actuator	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Actuator 4	Hydraulic Actuator	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Actuator 5	Hydraulic Actuator	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	DAS 6000	DAQ Infrastructure	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Hydraulic Power Supply System	Hydraulic Power Infrastructure	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Hydraulic Service Manifold	Other Utilities	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Reaction System	Reaction System	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Servocontroller	Other Utilities	Lehigh University
Real Time Multi-Directional Facility	Servovalves	Other Utilities	Lehigh University

David Roke; Richard Sause; James Michael Ricles; Brent Chancellor, "Damage-Free Seismic-Resistant Self-Centering Concentrically-Braced Frames" (view)

David Roke; Richard Sause; James Michael Ricles; Brent Chancellor; Nees Hub User, "Damage-Free Seismic-Resistant Self-Centering Concentrically-Braced Frames" (view)

Brent Chancellor; Nathaniel Gonner; Richard Sause; James Michael Ricles; David Roke, "Design, Experimental Setup, and Testing of a Self-Centering Steel Concentrically-Braced Frame Test Structure" (view)

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