Response of knee-brace-frame under seismic loading

Abstract

Recently a new framing system called the Knee-Brace-Frame (KBF) has been proposed for seismic resisting structures to overcome the deficiencies of moment resisting frame and concentrically braced frame in meeting both the stiffness and ductility requirements. In this system, one end of the diagonal brace is connected to a knee anchor instead of the beam-column joint. The diagonal brace provided the stiffness while the ductility is obtained through flexural yielding of the knee. In this study, a KBF with a shear yielding knee is being investigated for application in seismic resisting structures. The experimental results reveal that when the knee is designed with web stiffeners to prevent tearing of the web, it can dissipate a large amount of energy during severe earthquakes.