Performance evaluation of curved damper truss moment frames designed using equivalent energy design procedure

Curved damper truss moment frame (CDTMF) system is a novel seismic force-resisting structural system which utilizes the curved dampers integrated into a semi-rigid moment frame to dissipate the earthquake input energy. To ensure the CDTMF has high performance, the state-of the art equivalent energy design procedure (EEDP) is applied to its design. EEDP allows engineers to design CDTMF to achieve different performance objectives at different levels of earthquake shaking intensities. In this study, two different prototype buildings (three and nine-story) were designed using EEDP. The seismic performance of the buildings was assessed using nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA) and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). The results of the nonlinear dynamic analyses demonstrate that the CDTMFs can achieve the predefined performance targets (selected by the designer) at different earthquake intensity levels. The results of the IDA also show that the EEDP designed CDTMF has a sufficient margin against collapse. The results of this study in general confirm that CDTMF can be used as an effective seismic force-resisting system.