CHARACTERISTICS OF ECCENTRICALLY

BRACED FRAMES
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

By Keith D . Hjelmstad 1 and Egor P. Popov, 2 F. ASCE

ABSTRACT: The eccentrically braced steel frame provides an efficient structural

system for resisting lateral loads caused by wind or seismic activity. In some
applications, this versatile system can reduce overall material requirements and
result in a frame which is still under moderate loads yet ductile at extreme
overloads, an essential feature in seismic design. In this paper, some of the
fundamental characteristics of the behavior of eccentrically braced frames are
examined by studying some simple examples. The results provide a qualitative
assessment of the behavior of the framing system for use in seismically active
regions.

INTRODUCTION

In seismic design there are two different requirements that a structural

system must meet. Under ordinary circumstances, including lateral loads
due to wind and moderate seismic disturbances, a structure must be stiff
in order to minimize structural and nonstructural damage. On the other
hand, during a rare, intense seismic event, a structure must be safe from
collapse. Safety can often be assured by designing a structure which is
able to sustain overloads through inelastic action. For extreme over-
loads, some structural damage may be tolerable.
The commonly used lateral force resisting systems, moment resisting
and concentrically braced frames, generally provide economic solutions
to one or the other of the two requirements but not both; vis., moment
resisting frames are ductile but often too flexible to economically meet
drift control requirements, whereas concentrically braced frames are stiff
but possess limited energy dissipation capability. Recently, eccentrically
braced frames have been advanced as an economic solution to the seis-
mic design problem (12,14). The aim of this paper is to put each of
these framing systems into perspective and to qualitatively evaluate them
in the context of seismic design.
An eccentrically braced frame is a generalized framing system in which
the axial forces induced in the braces are transferred either to a column
or another brace through shear and bending in a segment of the beam.
This critical beam segment is called an "active link" or simply "link"
and will be designated herein by its length e. These links act to dissipate
the large amounts of input energy of a severe seismic event via material
yielding.
One benefit of using this type of bracing system is that there is con-
'Research Asst., Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720.
2
Prof. of Civ. Engrg., 721 Davis Hall, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720.
Note.—Discussion open until July 1,1984. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Technical and Profes-
sional Publications. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and
possible publication on June 30, 1982. This paper is part of the Journal of Struc-
tural Engineering, Vol. 110, No. 2, February, 1984. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/84/
0002-0340/$01.00. Paper No. 18594.
340

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 1,—Alternative Bracing Arrangements for Eccentrically Braced Frames

siderable flexibility regarding the placement of the braces, resulting in

less interference with the architectural features of the building. Fig. 1
shows four possible bracing schemes, their link locations, and some fea-
sible arrangements of architectural openings. As shown in Fig. 1(a), in
some circumstances certain links may be made short.
Considering a family of eccentrically braced frames to be parameter-
ized by the eccentricity ratio e/L (Fig. 2), it is seen that there is a con-
tinuous spectrum of possibilities ranging from the moment resisting frame
(e/L = 1) to the concentrically braced frame (e/L = 0). With the entire
spectrum available rather than just the two bounding cases, one is better
equipped to meet the difficult requirements of seismic design. The in-
troduction of the eccentricity ratio allows a tradeoff between lateral frame
stiffness and inelastic member deformation requirements.
Some of the main features of the elastic and inelastic behavior of ec-
centrically braced frames are examined by the simple structure shown
in Fig. 2. This one story, a one bay frame represents the essence of any
framing system employing this bracing arrangement. Some qualitative
extrapolations to more complex assemblages can be made from the study
of the simple system. A three story frame is also used to illustrate some
of the inelastic characteristics of eccentrically braced frames.

FIG. 2.—Simplest Eccentrically Braced Frames

341

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 ELASTIC BEHAVIOR

The elastic stiffness of a structure is a measure of its ability to meet

drift control requirements. Since the effective lateral load from earth-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

quake type excitation depends upon the stiffness, the relationship be-
tween stiffness and maximum drift is not linear. Consider, e.g., the com-
monly used power law approximation to the pseudo-acceleration response
spectrum, S„, given by
Sa = C0T-* (1)
in which c0 = some appropriate constant; T = the period of vibration of
the structure; and p = the exponent which characterizes the spectrum.
[The Uniform Building Code, e.g., recommends a value of P = 1/2 (15)].
For a structure of mass m, the maximum displacement, Amax is related
to the stiffness, K, approximately as

Amax = ~ = / ( m ) K - a . (2)
0)

in which w = 2TT/T = \/K/m; f(m) = some function of the mass; and a

= 1 - p/2 = an exponent depending on the power law used to ap-
proximate the response spectrum. A static, mass proportional loading
corresponds to a = 1.0. For dynamic loading, a is generally less than
unity. The values of a less than one indicate that less drift control is
realized through high structural stiffness than for values greater than or
equal to one. In general, however, higher stiffness indicates better drift
control for any fixed value of a.
For the simple system shown in Fig. 2, the lateral stiffness can be
expressed in terms of the relative bending, shear, and axial stiffnesses
of the members (EI, GA', and EA, respectively, in which E and G =
elastic moduli; I = the moment of inertia; A = the total area; and A' =

H •£.
A t
h
/ .1
-\\ ML'\D h—>-—^1

^/°75
V&^OS)

1 \
0.4 0.6

FIG. 3.—-Variations of Stiffness for Dif- FIG. 4.~-Variations of Stiffness for Dif-
ferent Aspect Ratios, Diagonal Bracing ferent Aspect Ratios, Split-K Bracing
(h/Ic = 0.2S, h/A^L2 = 0.001, EIb/GA'bL2 (Same Parameter Ratios as Fig. 3)
= 0.01)

342

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 H

/ h

/ 11
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

\ f*—— L ——-|
1 0
\ w -

^v \ °25

a^_Nv\,0-10

, , ,
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

FIG. 5.—Influence of Column Size on FIG. 6.—Influence of Shear Deforma-

Frame Stiffness (Ib/A,,rL2 = 0.001, EIJ tion on Frame Stiffness (Ib/AhrL2 =
AbV = 0.01, h/L = 0.75) 0.001, l„/Ic = 0.25, h/L = 0.75)

the shear area) and the topological parameters e/L and h/L. For sim-
plicity in the present analysis, the axial and shear stiffnesses of the col-
umns are assumed to be infinite. The effectiveness of bracing can be
seen by considering how the stiffness varies as the location of the brace,
measured by e/L, is changed. Thus, in each of the cases shown in Figs.
3-6, all of the member stiffness parameters and a selected structure as-
pect ratio, h/L, are held fixed while e/L varies from 0 to 1. For compar-
ison, each case has been normalized by dividing the braced stiffness by
the stiffness of the corresponding moment resisting frame (e/L = 1).
The variation of stiffness with the eccentricity ratio in a diagonally braced
frame is shown in Fig. 3 for aspect ratios of 1.0, 0.75, and 0.50. It is
evident that for values of e/L > 0.5 little benefit is gained by bracing.
For e/L < 0.5, substantial increases in stiffness can be achieved. This
effect is particularly noticeable for relatively narrower bays (e.g., h/L =
1). While the stiffness is greatest at small values of e/L, it will be seen
in the next section that e/L must be kept sufficiently large in order that
the members can meet ductility demands at extreme overloads.
For wide bays it is often impractical to use a single diagonal brace
because their length may become excessive. For these situations, the split-
K framing system [or some other similar system, such as the frames
depicted in Fig. 1(c) and 1(d)] may then be more appropriate. The effect
of eccentricity on stiffness for this case is shown in Fig. 4, again for a
variety of frame aspect ratios. It should be noted that these aspect ratios
measure a different quantity than previously. It is believed that this def-
inition provides a meaningful comparison between the two bracing ar-
rangements since, for equal values of e/L and h/L, the bracing angle is
the same in the two cases. It is apparent that this bracing scheme is more
sensitive to the eccentricity ratio than the frames braced with a single
diagonal. Here, the benefits of bracing for small e/L are greater than
before, but these benefits rapidly disappear-with increasing e/L.
As shown in Fig. 5, when the columns are large in relation to the
343

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 beams, the lateral stiffness is relatively insensitive to bracing. On the
other hand, when the columns and beams are roughly the same size,
great advantage can be obtained from stiffening. For the one story build-
ing, the fixity at the base has a great influence upon this effect. In a
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

multistory building the conclusions may be different.

For values of e/L < 0.5, shear deformations in the link beam become
increasingly important. Elastic structural analyses often neglect the effect
of shear deformations by assuming GA = ». Fig. 6 shows that such a
practice can lead to serious overestimates of the structure's stiffness at
small eccentricity ratios.

INELASTIC BEHAVIOR

Effective performance of a frame under severe seismic excitation de-

pends strongly on its ability to absorb and dissipate energy without a
loss of strength. In the eccentric bracing scheme, the energy dissipation
is forced to occur in highly localized regions of the structure which de-
form inelastically. The energy dissipation mechanism of such frames is
more like that of moment resisting frames than concentrically braced
frames in that dissipation occurs in the beam due to shear and bending
rather than through cyclic inelastic action in the braces, which may buc-
kle. This mechanism allows for ductile behavior of eccentrically braced
frames. The behavior of the active links dominates the inelastic behavior
of the frame. Consequently, these zones must be studied carefully re-
garding both what demands might be made of them and how effectively
they supply those demands.
In this section the problem of establishing the ductility that might be
required of an active link is considered. Three different deterministic
approaches to estimating this ductility demand are commented upon.
The suitability of any one of the methods depends upon the particular
application.
The seismic response of an inelastic structural system is a dynamic
process, and hence a nonlinear evolutionary analysis is warranted. From
such an analysis one can make the best possible prediction of the ele-
ment ductility demands for any specific excitation history. With this in-
formation, proper detailing of the elements can be made. It is seldom
practical to perform an inelastic dynamic analysis during the design pro-
cess. Consequently, other methods must be explored to estimate prob-
able ductility demands.
A second approach to the problem of estimating the local ductility
demands consists of studying the static inelastic behavior of a frame sub-
jected to monotonically increasing lateral loads. In this type of analysis,
one gives up the dynamic characteristics of the loading and conse-
quently the dynamic aspects of response. Additionally, one is faced with
the problem of prescribing a set of lateral loads to approximately rep-
resent an earthquake loading. The elastoplastic analysis does, however,
lend insight into how the structure behaves under severe lateral loading.
A study of this type for a one bay, three story eccentrically braced
frame is shown in Fig. 7. The relative topological properties of this struc-
ture are: L = 100, h = 50, and e = 14; in which L, h, and e are defined
in the figure. The relative member section properties are given in Table
^£$iQ.

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

(a) (b) (c)

FIG. 7.—Static Elastic-Plastic Response of 3-Story Frame

1. The section strength properties, denoted by Vp*, Mp*, and Mp, axe
defined by Eqs. 7-9, in the following section. A consistent set of units
has been used.
It is instructive to note from this study the sequential formation of

TABLE 1.—Relative Member Section Properties of Three Story Frame

Section
properties Beams Columns Braces
(1) (2) (3) (4)
EI 957,000 2,900,000 —
GA' 19,140 — —
EA 145,000 290,000 217,500
Mr 400 1,000 —
M* 280 — —
V* 40 — —

345

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 plastic regions in the frame due to the applied load. In the active links,
the numbered events correspond to the completion of yielding mecha-
nisms due to interaction between shear and bending. For simplicity, the
interaction between axial force and bending moment at the column bases
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

has not been considered in this analysis. The effect of this interaction
would be the earlier formation of the plastic hinges at the column bases.
Since the inelastic deformations can be almost entirely attributed to
shear for active links with the properties given in Table 1, it is appro-
priate to define member ductility, |x,„, as

7 GA'
Pm = — = -77- 7 (3)
7y Vu
in which 7 = the average shear distortion; a n d GA' = t h e elastic cross
sectional shear stiffness. V„ = t h e ultimate shear capacity, which m a y
be less than V£ d u e to the presence of b e n d i n g moment, a n d can be
determined for a specific problem using Eq. 10. The lateral deflection at
the t o p of t h e structure, A, can also be normalized, t h e resulting quantity
often being associated with the term structure ductility, |x s .
_ A _ K
Ay H„
in which K = the elastic lateral frame stiffness, condensed to the loaded
degree of freedom; a n d H„ = t h e frame limit load.
The state of deformation w h e n t h e columns form plastic hinges, [event
4 in Fig. 7(a)] corresponds to a structure ductility of |xs = 7.4. At that
level of structure deformation, t h e m e m b e r ductilities were found to be:
|x„ = 72, |x„ = 55, a n d ^l, = 22, in which |xf„ represents t h e ductility of
the member which first w e n t inelastic at event i. Two conclusions can
be made from this example: First, the ratio of a member ductility mea-
sure to structure ductility measure can be quite high. This p h e n o m e n o n
is typical of the eccentrically braced frame a n d occurs mostly d u e to frame
geometry. It is important to note that the definition of ductility em-
ployed applies only to active links which deform predominantly in shear.
Comparing ductility magnitudes with those, e.g., in a m o m e n t resisting
frame can be misleading because the m o d e of deformation in t h e t w o
cases is significantly different, a n d thus so are t h e definitions of ductil-
ity. A second conclusion is that the ductility d e m a n d s can vary greatly
throughout a structure. In general, some active links are likely to be
located in regions that are more critical than others a n d m u s t be detailed
accordingly.
Additional insight into t h e possible behavior of an eccentrically braced
frame is gained by considering t h e redistribution of forces d u e to inelas-
tic action in the frame. The distribution of bending m o m e n t s for t h e
three story frame is s h o w n in Fig. 7(b) for t h e three stages of loading
corresponding to events 1, 3, a n d 4 (the distribution for event 2 is quite
similar to that of event 1). O n e can see that in this particular example
a significant change in the w a y the lateral loads are resisted takes place
as the inelasticity progresses. Of particular interest is the fact that col-
u m n s originally in double curvature bending change to single curvature
bending d u e to the redistributions. Such a p h e n o m e n o n should be con-

o46

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

L
(a) f 1 (b) (c)

FIG. 8.—Kinematieally Admissible Fields of Deformation for Different Framing

Schemes

sidered in the design of the columns. The often used practice of de-
signing for factored elastic moments could be unconservative in certain
cases.
It is recognized that the example presented here may be an extreme
case; the structural drift at event 4 may well be in excess of certain code
limitations. Furthermore, it should be possible to proportion an eccentri-
cally braced frame such that a more favorable redistribution of bending
moments will occur under a specified loading pattern. This direction will
not be pursued herein. The example presented points out the impor-
tance of incorporating inelastic analyses into the design process. An elas-
tic analysis may not be sufficient to insure the integrity of a structural
system which takes advantage of inelastic activity. This comment applies
equally to moment resisting frames.
The elasto-plastic analysis does give an indication of how the member
ductilities vary throughout the structure. One is left, however, with some
question as to how these ductility demands correspond with those de-
rived from an inelastic dynamic analysis or another static analysis using
a different pattern of loads. Additional static analyses on the structure
being considered here have shown that the distribution of ductility de-
mand is significantly influenced by the form of loading imposed.
For preliminary design purposes, it is often sufficient to know only
the order of magnitude of the member ductility demands. Such an es-
timate can be obtained from a rigid-plastic analysis of the structure. Ki-
nematieally admissible fields of deformation for three frames having rigid-
plastic members are shown in Fig. 8. In any one of these frames, all of
the member ductility demands are equal under the rigid-plastic as-
sumption. Because member deformations are forced to be uniform
throughout these structures, one would expect that the member ductility
demands found in this manner would, in some sense, represent an av-
erage of those obtained from an elasto-plastic analysis. Nevertheless, the
rigid-plastic analysis can provide some guidelines for the selection of the
links.
To obtain an idea of how the structure deformation relates to the
member deformation under the rigid-plastic assumption, it is sufficient
to consider the simple frame. The collapse mechanism of this frame is
shown in Fig. 9. Geometrical considerations lead to the following rela-
347

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 9.—Collapse Mechanism for Simplest Eccentrically Braced Frame

tion between 0, the measure of structure deformation, and 7, the mea-

sure of member deformation:

61 = ye (5)
For shear links (small e/L) 7 measures the average shear strain, while
for bending links (large e/L) it measures the plastic hinge rotations. When
e is much smaller than L, the ratio of member deformations to structure
deformations is quite large. Using Eq. 5 and the definitions of ductility,
given by Eqs. 3 and 4, one can compute an approximate rigid-plastic
member ductility which corresponds to event 4 of the elasto-plastic anal-
ysis of the three story frame example. The two approaches are compared
assuming an equal drift at the top of the structure. The angular drift 9
is then the tip deflection divided by the height of the structure. The
value of 7 from Eq. 5 is then used in Eq. 3 to obtain a value of |A„, = 55
for each of the links of the three story frame. One should note that this
value is intermediate to the values obtained from the elasto-plastic analysis.
For the three frames shown in Fig. 8, the moment resisting frame (a)
places the smallest demand on the active links, for a given value of 6,
according to Eq. 5, since 0 = 7 for this configuration. As was pointed
out earlier, it is advantageous to make the link as small as possible to
maximize the elastic stiffness of the frame. On the other hand, Eq. 5
suggests that the shorter the link is, the higher will be its ductility de-
mand. The imperative condition that a link's ductility demand be less
than the ductility, which it can supply, will limit the shortness of the
link.
It should be recognized that a structure employing short links may
sustain considerable floor damage in a severe earthquake. The regions
of potential damage are encircled by dashed lines in Fig. 8. An estimate
of the floor deflection, 8, for a given 8 for the simple structure is given
by
8 = 6(L - e) (6)
It is evident that the optimal eccentrically braced frame represents a
maximization of the structural stiffness under the constraint that the
member ductility demands must be physically realizable. The next sec-
tion deals with the problem of determining member capacity and gives
348

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 some experimentally derived guidelines regarding how much ductility a
member can supply.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

MEMBER CAPACITY

Most of the energy dissipation that takes place in a frame occurs in

the active link elements. In order to dissipate large amounts of energy,
an element must be able to sustain considerable inelastic deformation
without losing strength. Experiments have shown that active links can
meet these requirements under severe cyclically reversing loads (4,10) if
the links are properly detailed.
The capacity of an elastic-perfectly plastic W-section is given, in the
absence of axial forces, by the moment-shear interaction relationship
shown in Fig. 10. The basic characteristics of this curve are captured by
the parameters V£, Mp, and Mp, which are given by

y ; = Ty(d - tf)tw (7)

M ; = ay(b - tw)(d - tf)tf (8)

Mp = cTyZ (9)
in which Ty = the yield stress in pure shear; a y = the yield stress in pure
tension (a y = V5 Ty for the von Mises yield criterion); d, b, tw, and tf
= the section depth, flange width, web thickness, and flange thickness
respectively; and Z = the plastic section modulus. If one neglects the
small increase in shear capacity for points to the left of A, the curve can
be approximated as

)^B

FIG. 10.-—Typical Moment-Shear Interaction Relationship lor W-Ssotion with In-

dication of Proper Stiffening Details
349

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 (\MZW)2JX\2 = 1 M-|M|,MP (10)
\Mp-M*J \V*J P \ \ P
otherwise V = V*ioi \M\ ^ M~*(8). This relationship is symmetric about
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

both V = 0 and M = 0. Due to strain hardening effects at large inelastic

strains, values of moment and shear outside this ideal curve can be re-
alized. Experiments have shown that strain hardening can increase the
capacity by more than 50% in a properly detailed shear link (4). This
additional capacity should be considered when designing the bracing
members to resist buckling.
Numerous recent experiments by the writers have shown that inelastic
web buckling is likely for short links having relatively low values of d/
tw (4,10) (as compared, e.g., to those usually encountered in plate gir-
ders which also exhibit web buckling due to shear) when subjected to
cyclically reversing loads. Experimental research has shown that trans-
verse web stiffeners can be employed to effectively control this problem.
Based on experimental evidence it would appear that stiffeners spaced
approximately 25 to 30 tw apart are sufficient to insure member integrity.
The region just below point A on the diagram corresponds to beam lengths
where both web and flange buckling are likely. For such links, additional
pairs of fitted stiffeners should be provided at the ends to prevent flange
buckling. In the third region, only stiffeners to prevent flange buckling
need to be provided and can be disposed of altogether for long links.
The previously mentioned experiments by the writers indicate that the
properly detailed shear links can achieve average shear strains as large
as 7 = ±0.10 for cyclic loading and 7 = 0.20 for monotonic loading (4,10).
While the ductility demand in an active link decreases as the length in-
creases, it has been experimentally observed that the energy dissipation
capacity decreases.

DETAILING OF LINK BEAMS

A typical detail of a shear link connecting to a column flange at the

top of a brace is shown in Fig. 11, identified by the encircled letter A.
A similarly detailed link could also be used at the bottom of a brace. For
such moment connections, the beam flanges are fully welded to the col-
umn flanges. The beam web is shown fillet welded to a shear tab, which
should be welded last to minimize residual stresses. For larger members,
if the problems of field erection can be satisfactorily resolved, the web
can be attached with a full-penetration weld as shown in Fig. 12. This
more direct transfer of shear forces may be preferable in some cases. In
each case, the beam should be laterally braced along lines B-B.
The effective length of the link in Figs. 11 and 12 is measured by the
distance ex. For shear links, equal spacing of the stiffeners has been
found to be the most satisfactory choice. Recent experiments have shown
that, for shear links of moderate depth, web stiffeners need be placed
only on one side (7). Moreover, it has been found that, if ductility de-
mands are not large, the intermediate stiffeners need not be attached to
the beam flanges. Such a possibility is shown in Figs. 11 and 12.
If the ductility demands demonstrated are small in any link, then that
link can be made short. This behavior is displayed, e.g., by the structure
350

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 TSB FLG. > ^ -

3" RETURNS > -

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 11,—Typical Shear Link Details for (A) Strong and (B) Weak Axis Column
Connections

shown in Fig. 8(c), where an rigid-plastic analysis of the frame shows

that the inelastic deformations of the links on the left side are negligible
in comparison to the deformations of the active links on the right side.
In such cases, a connection of the type shown in detail B of Fig. 11 could
be used with e2 on the order of gj/10. No lateral bracing needs to be
provided for such short links inasmuch as they possess adequate tor-

FIG. 12.—Alternate Shear Link to Column Flange Connection Detail

351

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 B B
PL. STIFFNERS
\EACH SIDE
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 13.—Detail of Intermediate Length Link in Interior of Span

sional resistance. However, further research is needed to develop a com-

pletely reliable beam to column-web connection for cyclic loading.
A detail of a typical link in the middle of a beam span is shown in
Fig. 13. With pairs of stiffeners placed near the ends this example illus-
trates the detailing for a link of moderate length. In seismic design the
active links must be laterally braced at both ends (i.e., along lines B-B).

CONCLUSIONS

In eccentrically braced frames, the vertical force components in the

diagonal braces are transferred to columns or other braces through shear
and bending in the beams. In a sense, this makes eccentrically braced
frames a compromise between a truss and a moment resisting frame.
The truss-like characteristics endow the frame with high stiffness while
the moment resisting frame-like characteristics provide the frame with
large ductility capability. For these reasons eccentrically braced frames
can be used to advantage in earthquake-resistant construction.
The introduction of the parameter, e/L, leads to a generalization of
the concept of framing system. It has been shown that a high elastic
frame stiffness can be achieved by reducing the eccentricity, e. The re-
duction of e, however, is limited by the ductility that an active link can
supply. Several approaches to the problem of estimating the ductility
demand in an eccentrically braced frame have been described, and some
experimentally derived estimates of member ductility supply have been
presented.
A typical eccentrically braced frame can be designed to resist a mod-
erate earthquake or wind loads elastically, thereby minimizing both
structural and nonstructural damage. In a severe seismic event, a prop-
erly designed eccentrically braced frame would sustain considerable in-
elastic activity in the link regions, which, in extreme cases, may result
in significant permanent deformations. These effects can in general be
anticipated and rationalized.
Since eccentrically braced frames are more efficient in meeting drift
control requirements than are equivalent moment resisting frames, their
member sizes are smaller. As a consequence, the bending moments im-
posed by the beams on the columns are also smaller, resulting in less
352

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353

 expensive connections a n d the possible elimination of doubler plates in
the column panel zones. Since the link beams limit the axial forces that
may develop in the braces, the possibility of their buckling can be elim-
inated. This gives eccentrically braced frames a considerable advantage
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee on 01/12/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

over concentrically braced frames.

Recent experience in the design a n d erection of eccentrically braced
frames in California have s h o w n that the concept is practicable (3,6).
Therefore, it appears that eccentrically braced frames provide a viable
alternative for seismic design of steel structures.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writers thank James O. Malley a n d Kazuhiko Kasai for their con-
tributions to the current research on eccentrically braced frames. Also,
the support of the National Science Foundation, Grant N o . CEE 81-07217
is gratefully acknowledged. The opinions expressed in this paper are
those of the writers and d o not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

APPENDIX.—REFERENCES

1. Clough, R. W., and Penzien, J., Dynamics of Structures, McGraw Hill Book
Co., New York, N.Y., 1975.
2. Drucker, D. C , "Effect of Shear on the Plastic Bending of Beams," Journal
of Applied Mechanics, Vol. 23(4), 1956, p. 509.
3. "Eccentric Bracing is Key to Seismic Resistance," Engineering News Record,
Oct. 25, 1979, pp. 32-33.
4. Hjelmstad, K. D., and Popov, E. P., "Cyclic Behavior and Design of Link
Beams," Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, in press.
5. Hodge, P. G., Plastic Analysis of Structures, McGraw Hill Book Co., New York,
N.Y., 1959.
6. Libby, J. R., "Eccentrically Braced Frames Construction—A Case History,"
AISC Engineering Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1981, pp. 149-153.
7. Malley, J. O., and Popov, E. P., "Design of Shear Links in Eccentrically Braced
Frames," Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, in press.
8. Neal, B. G., "Effect of Shear Force on the Fully Plastic Moment of an I-Beam,"
Journal of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1961, p. 258.
9. Popov, E. P., and Bertero, V. V., "Seismic Analysis of Some Steel Building
Frames," Journal of the Engineering Mechanics Division, ASCE, Vol. 106, No.
EMI, Feb., 1980, pp. 75-92.
10. Popov, E. P., and Hjelmstad, K. D., "Cyclic Web Buckling," Proceedings,
Structural Stability Research Council, 1981, p. 57.
11. Popov, E. P., and Manheim, D. N., "Eccentric Bracing of Steel Frames in
Seismic Design," Transactions, 6th International Conference on Structural
Mechanics in Reactor Technology, Paris, France, Vol. K(b), K 13/8, Aug.,
1981.
12. Roeder, C. W., and Popov, E. P., "Eccentrically Braced Steel Frames for
Earthquakes," Journal of the Structures Division, ASCE, Vol. 104, No. ST3, Mar.,
1978.
13. Roeder, C. W., and Popov, E. P., "Design of an Eccentrically Braced Steel
Frame," AISC Engineering Journal, Third Quarter, 1978.
14. Roeder, C. W., and Popov, E. P., "Inelastic Behavior of Eccentrically Braced
Steel Frames Under Cyclic Loadings," EERC Report 77-18, Univ. of Califor-
nia, Berkeley, Calif., Aug., 1977.
15. Uniform Building Code, 1982 ed., International Conference of Building Offi-
cials, Whittier, Calif., 1982.

353

J. Struct. Eng., 1984, 110(2): 340-353