Full-scale BRB testing: Dynamic Near-Fault Protocols

Project: The Feasibility of Using Buckling-Restrained Braces for
Long-Span Bridges
Sponsor: California Department of Transportation
Specimen Donor: CoreBrace, LLC
Several fully dynamic buckling-restrained brace (BRB) loading protocols are applied to one of the first stainless steel yielding core BRBs to be tested. Two near-fault protocols were developed using simulated BRB demands obtained subjecting a finite element model of the Vincent Thomas Bridge (VTB), equipped with BRB elements, to near-fault pulse-type ground motions. A dynamic version of the AISC 341-10 prequalifying BRB testing protocol is also applied. The specimen demonstrates the inelastic deformation capabilities of type 304/304L ASTM A240 stainless steel, and is finally fractured under the constant amplitude cycles of a fracture protocol.