High-performance steel structures for buildings

High-performance steel structures for buildings are defined as high capacity to support gravity and wind, high ductility to resist earthquakes and low steel consumption. Thus, high-strength steel is recommended. However, the ductility of high-strength steel cannot satisfy the ductility requirements of structural steel specified in the current codes for buildings in seismic zones. Several configurations of high-performance steel structures with high ductility are proposed. High-strength steel can be used for columns in the steel frameworks with simple or semi-rigid beam-to-column connections. The yielding of columns is prevented from limiting the moment transfer from beams. So the ductility of high-performance steel structures employing high-strength steel is guaranteed. To enhance lateral stiffness and ductility of steel frameworks with simple or semi-rigid connections, buckling-restrained braces or shear walls are inserted. The coupled shear walls using high-ductility steel link beams or steel link walls are also proposed for lateral supporting structures for high-performance steel structures. The high performance of the steel structures proposed is demonstrated with typical examples.