Sensitivity analysis of self-centering rocking steel braced frames to far-field and near-field earthquakes

Identifying the location of earthquake-induced damage in buildings and mitigating its impact, especially in lowdamage systems such as rocking frames, is a significant challenge for structural engineers. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the sensitivity and type of damage of buildings exposed to severe earthquakes to concentrate damage in predefined locations that can be repaired easily. This paper explores the seismic responses of a Self-Centering Rocking Steel Braced Frame (SCR-SBF) under far-field and near-field ground motions. This earthquake-resistant system includes components such as post-tensioning cables to provide frame self-centering, eliminate residual drift in the system, and replaceable fuses to concentrate the earthquakeinduced damage. While previous studies have examined far and near-field earthquakes, their comparative influence on the seismic behavior of structures with a rocking system remains unexplored. This paper presents a novel investigation into the sensitivity of SCR-SBF structures to far and near-field earthquakes. Considering the critical effects of shock and impulse loads on rocking systems, the study aims to assess the effects of near-field earthquakes and compare them to far-field earthquakes on these systems. For this purpose, different response parameters have been calculated under records of far- and near-field earthquakes at three specific ground acceleration levels by incremental nonlinear dynamic analysis. Additionally, the seismic behavior of the SCR-SBF and Steel-Braced Frame (SBF) are compared for near and far-field ground motions. The results show that SCR-SBF systems have better resilience and reduced local failures compared to SBF systems under far and near-field earthquakes, requiring tailored design strategies.