Study on the hysteretic performance of a self-centering composite damping energy dissipation brace

In order to solve the problem of insufficient capacity and only single source of energy dissipation, and high cost of energy dissipation materials in self-centering braces, a new type of self-centering composite damping energy dissipation brace was proposed. The brace was composed of a metal yielding damping device and a viscoelastic damping device, which were connected in parallel with a recentering device with pre-pressed disc springs. The basic configuration and working principle of the brace were introduced, and the energy dissipation, recentering, bearing and deformation capacities of the brace were studied by refined numerical simulation. It is shown that under the action of reciprocating loading, the hysteretic response of the brace exhibits a stable and full flag-shaped characteristic, with symmetrical tension and compression capacities and no residual deformation, which can meet the behavior requirements under different loading frequencies. The effects of the loading scheme and design parameters of the brace on its hysteretic performance were analyzed. The results show that when the loading frequency increases from 0. 3 Hz to 2. 0 Hz, the damping force provided by the viscoelastic damping device increases, and the energy dissipation of the brace increases from 8. 32 kj to 11. 93 kj. With the increase of the pre-pressed force of disc springs, the activation force of brace increases from 378.98 kN to 562.67 kN, and its recentering capability is always fully utilized. The energy dissipation capacity of the brace is mainly affected by the number of triangular steel plates and the shear surface area of viscoelastic material. When the number of triangular steel plates increases by 4, or the shear surface area of viscoelastic material increases from 140 mm X 140 mm to 300 mm X 140 mm, the equivalent viscous damping ratios of the brace respectively increase by 39. 93% and 16. 09% . © 2024 Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All rights reserved.