Experiment Study On Replacable Buckling-Restrained Braced In Reinforced Concrete Frame

A two-storey RC-frame-structure model was designed as a substructure of an existing eight-storey RC building built in late1970s with a scale of1:2.5. It was retrofitted with two buckling-restrained-braces frames by means of embedded bars and shear connectors respectively on the middle span of the three-span RC model structure on both sides. Pseudo-static cyclic loading had been carried out on the model frame substructure. The test results showed that the connecting methods of buckl ing-restrained braced frame performed excellent together with the existing frame structure under cyclic loading, and buckling-restrained braces increased the seismic performance of model structure, seismic energy to the structures during earthquake was mainly absorbed by buckling-restrained braces, leading to less damage on structure elements. The test result showed that more than66.9%seismic energy was absorbed by buckling-restrained braces. Two cyclic loading testings had been carried out on the existing reinforced concrete model frame structure retrofitted with buckling-restrained braced rocking frames before and after replacing the buckling-restrained braces. The test results showed that the structure obtain the ability of energy dissipation again after replacing the buckling-restrained braces and the buckling-restrained braced frame. The buckling-restrained braced frame that is replaced by the new BRBs don’t need to be dismantled and repaired.