Assessing the Effect of Design Variations on Seismic Stability of Steel Special Concentrically Braced Frames

Published

June 27, 2022

Author(s)

Shitao Shi, Larry Fahnestock, Matthew Speicher

Abstract

Building seismic stability is provided when a structural system is capable of carrying gravity loads while developing large inelastic deformations and associated lateral displacements, but this complex nonlinear behavior is challenging to distill into a straightforward design approach. Code-based consideration of seismic P-Δ effects is generally based on simplistic elastic models, and specific to steel buildings and the design framework in the United States, the current fundamental approach for stability design was developed and calibrated for non-seismic scenarios where the structure has modest overstrength and the ultimate strength (stability point) of the structure occurs prior to significant inelastic deformation. The results described in this paper are part of a comprehensive study that is seeking to identify the most critical lateral system parameters that affect seismic stability and to develop a rigorous yet simple methodology whereby these parameters can be considered in design. This paper focuses on a set of steel special concentrically braced frames that is evaluated using nonlinear static analysis to assess the relative influence of several parameters – bracing configuration and analysis type used in the design process – on inelastic seismic stability behavior.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering

Conference Dates

June 27-July 1, 2022

Conference Location

Salt Lake City, UT, US

Conference Title

National Conference on Earthquake Engineering

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Seismic, Steel, Structural, SCBF, Stability

Citation

Shi, S. , Fahnestock, L. and Speicher, M. (2022), Assessing the Effect of Design Variations on Seismic Stability of Steel Special Concentrically Braced Frames, Proceedings of the 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Salt Lake City, UT, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=933728 (Accessed October 13, 2025)