Out-of-Plane Stability of Buckling-Restrained Braces Placed in Chevron Arrangement

Large-scale shake table tests were performed at E-Defense to examine the out-of-plane stability of buckling-restrained braces (BRBs). Two specimens were subjected repeatedly to a near-fault ground motion with increasing amplification. The test specimens comprised a single-bay, single-story steel frame and a pair of BRBs placed in a chevron arrangement. The specimens were not braced at the brace-to-beam intersection in order to produce a condition where the BRBs were susceptible to out-of-plane instability. Standard BRBs were used in the first specimen, while BRBs with a flexible segment at each end of the steel core were used in the second specimen. A simple stability model predicted the BRBs in the second specimen to fail because of out-of-plane buckling. The first specimen exhibited excellent ductility during the shake table tests, while the second specimen developed severe out-of-plane deformation that compromised the ductility of the BRBs. Based on the experimental observations and the stability model, a methodology is proposed to evaluate bracing requirements at the brace-to-beam intersection.