Steel hysteretic column dampers for seismic retrofit of soft-first-story structures

In this study a new hysteretic damper for seismic retrofit of soft-first story structures is proposed and its seismic retrofit effect is evaluated. The damper consists of one steel column member and two flexural fuses at both ends made of steel plates with reduced section, which can be placed right beside existing columns in order to minimize interference with passengers and automobiles in the installed bays. The relative displacement between the stories forms flexural plastic hinges at the fuses and dissipate seismic energy. The theoretical formulation and the design procedure based on plastic analysis is provided for the proposed damper, and the results are compared with a detailed finite-element (FE) model. In order to apply the damper in structural analysis, a macromodel of the damper is also developed and calibrated by the derived theoretical formulas. The results are compared with the detailed FE analysis, and the efficiency of the damper is further validated by the seismic retrofit of a case study structure and assessing its seismic performance before and after the retrofit. The results show that the proposed hysteretic damper can be used effectively in reducing damage to soft-first story structures.