Seismic response of dual structures comprised by Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRB) and RC walls

In order to reduce the residual drift of a structure in structural engineering field, a combined structural system (dual) consisting of steel buckling-restrained braced frame (BRBF) along with shear wall is proposed. In this paper, BRBFs are used with special reinforced concrete shear walls as combined systems. Some prototype models of the proposed combined systems as well as steel BRBF-only systems (without walls) are designed according to the code recommendations. Then, the nonlinear model of the systems is prepared using fiber elements for the reinforced concrete wall and appropriate elements for the BRBs. Seismic responses of the combined systems subjected to ground motions at maximum considered earthquake level are investigated and compared to those obtained from BRBFs. Results showed that the maximum residual inter-story drift from the combined systems is, on average, less than half of the corresponding value of the BRBFs. In this research, mean of absolute values of the maximum inter-story drift ratio demand obtained from combined systems is less than the 3% limitation, while this criterion has not been fulfilled by BRBF systems.