Seismic response analysis of SDOF systems with disc spring- or shape memory alloy- based self-centering slip friction dampers: A comparative study

Owing to excellent recentering capability and satisfactory damping capacity, self-centering (SC) dampers are promising alternatives of conventional seismic dampers, if residual deformation is designated with a substantial weight in measuring seismic resilience. Recently, SC slip friction dampers (SCSFDs) attract wide attentions among the earthquake engineering community. SCSFDs mainly consist of recentering elements (springs) and friction plates. According to the springs that are utilized, SC slip friction dampers are divided into the disc spring (DS)- based ones and shape memory alloy (SMA)- based ones. The difference between the DS and SMA is that the former has zero damping ability, whereas the latter could dissipate energy through inherent hysteretic behavior. However, the effect of such difference on the seismic behavior of systems with different dampers remains unknown. Besides, the coefficient of kinetic friction of the friction plates, which is critical to the hysteresis width of SCSFDs, also requires extensive discussions. To this end, this paper makes comprehensive comparisons between single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) linear systems with DS- or SMA- based SCSFDs. Two example structures are firstly used for preliminarily understanding the response differences. And then, the observations are further extended to systems with various strength capacities, fundamental periods and seismic intensities. © 2024 Institution of Structural Engineers