Experimental study on seismic behavior of replaceable energy dissipation braces with square steel tubes and rectangular steel plates

A novel replaceable energy-dissipation brace (REDB) was proposed in this paper, which was for rapidly recovering the energy dissipation capacity of a building and significantly reducing the repair cost after earthquakes. The REDB included a H-type brace, two U-shaped connection components, a few replaceable energy dissipation components combined with square steel tubes and rectangular steel plates, and some bolts. The hysteretic performance of five REDBs in a steel frame substructure was investigated through a quasi-static test. The type and the number of replaceable energy dissipation components were assumed as experimental parameters. Three types of replaceable energy dissipation components with different rectangular steel plates (A-type, B-type, and C-type) were proposed. It shown that the H-type braces were basically elastic, and the energy dissipation capacity was mainly offered by the replaceable energy dissipation components. Among the three different replaceable energy dissipation components, the hysteretic curves of B-type replaceable energy dissipation component were the fullest. The ductility of a REDB with single energy dissipation component was about twice of that of a REDB with double energy dissipation components. In addition, a design method for calculating the yield capacity of three different replaceable energy dissipation components were developed and verified.