Earthquake behavior of steel cushion-implemented reinforced concrete frames

The earthquake performance of vulnerable structures can be increased by the implementation of supplementary energy-dissipative metallic elements. The main aim of this paper is to describe the earthquake behavior of steel cushion-implemented reinforced concrete frames (SCI-RCFR) in terms of displacement demands and energy components. Several quasi-static experiments were performed on steel cushions (SC) installed in reinforced concrete (RC) frames. The test results served as the basis of the analytical models of SCs and a bare reinforced concrete frame (B-RCFR). These models were integrated in order to obtain the resulting analytical model of the SCI-RCFR. Nonlinear-time history analyses (NTHA) were performed on the SCI-RCFR under the effects of the selected earthquake data set. According to the NTHA, SC application is an effective technique for increasing the seismic performance of RC structures. The main portion of the earthquake input energy was dissipated through SCs. SCs succeeded in decreasing the plastic energy demand on structural elements by almost 50% at distinct drift levels.