Performance-based seismic design has brought about innovative rocking and self-centering structural systems such as the controlled rocking steel braced frame (CRBF). This lateral force resisting system has recently received focused attention in academic research however has seen limited application in practice to date. This may be due in part to the unconventional load path and plastic mechanisms formed during response. The transfer of forces through a CRBF with a few configurations of passivie energy dissipating devices (steel yielding and viscous) is described and illustrated. The structural demands on primary CRBF members including dynamic load effects are evaluated through nonlinear transient finite element seismic analyses. Additionally, the demands placed on non-structural components contained on each building floor was investigated through the computational model by calculating critical response quantities such as inter-story drift, peak floor acceleration, and floor spectra. Structural and non-structural demands are compared with a conventional (fixed-base) ductile braced frame structure to illustrate the differences in seismic behaivor and potential benefits of a well designed controlled rocking steel braced frame.
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