Experimental study of friction damping for steel frame structures

A passive energy dissipation system that incorporates friction damping devices in the cross-bracing of a medium-rise steel moment resisting frame is investigated. Earthquake simulator tests and an analytical study of the system are performed and the response characteristics compared with those of equivalent moment resisting and eccentric braced frames. An existing scale model 9 story steel moment resisting frame (MRF) was modified to include friction damped bracing as part of the lateral load resisting system. The frame is one bay wide and three bays long and represents a typical section in the weak direction of a steel frame building of approximately 1/4-scale. It was observed that the friction damped braced frame (FDBF) system had the ability to behave in a nonlinear fashion without demanding inelastic behavior in the frame itself.