Evaluation of effect of sacrificial facade bracket elements in reducing dynamic response of structures subjected to seismic loads

![CDATA[To date the engineering community has seen structural facade systems as non-structural elements with high aesthetic value and a barrier between the outdoor and indoor environments. The role of facades in energy use in a building has also been recognized and the industry is also witnessing the emergence of many energy efficient facade systems. It has also been recognized that facade systems add some stiffness and damping to the overall building despite the new and modern systems, eg, curtain walls which add a relatively small amount of stiffness and damping to the overall building. Despite these advancements, the facade has rarely been considered or designed as a potential earthquake-induced vibration absorber for structural buildings. In this paper the potential of utilizing a movable exterior facade in a double-skin facade is investigated and shown that with optimal choice of materials for stiffness and damping of bracket connecting the two skins, a substantial portion of earthquake induced vibration energy can be dissipated which leads to avoiding expensive aseismic designs. The initial works has demonstrated that the seismic response for low-rise buildings subjected to moderate to severe earthquakes can be substantially reduced by introduction of a smart design of a double skin system.]]