AN EFFICI ENT ENERGY DISSIPATING DEVICE CALLED COMB-TEETH DAMPER

In this paper, a new type of yielding metallic damper called comb-teeth dam per, CTD, is introduced. CTD is made of steel plates and includes a number of teeth that dissipate energy t hrough in-plane flexural yielding. An optimum geometry of teeth is suggested, which assures uniform dis tribution of stress along them and prevents strain localizatio n. Numerical FE modeling and test results are us ed to verify the design of proposed damper. Three full scale s pecimens have been made and tested under cycllic loading. The samples tolerated considerable cumulative displacement in their hysteresis cycles without any significant loss of strength. After these studies, the be havior of three simple steel frame equipped with proposed damper has been evaluated experimentally. Thee test results show that if this type of frames is designed appropriately, they can have a high energy dissipat ion capacity.

Keywords:

Simple Steel Frames , Steel Slit Dampers , Yielding Metallic Dampers , E nergy Dissipation , Comb Teeth Damper