Design method and experimental study on seismic performance of energy dissipation substructure using inter-column connection

Energy dissipation technology can effectively improve the seismic behavior of building structures. However, the consensus has not been achieved on the target performance and design method of the energy dissipation substructures. The design method based on elastic analysis under frequent earthquakes was proposed for the energy dissipation substructure using the inter-column connection. The design procedure and the associated key points were illustrated. A reinforced concrete frame substructure and two energy dissipation substructures were tested using low-cycle reversed loading to investigate the seismic performance of energy dissipation substructures and to validate the feasibility of the proposed design methods. The test results show that the bearing capacity of energy dissipation substructure is about the sum of the bearing capacity of the surrounding frame and that of the damper, and the energy dissipation capacity of a single cycle is almost equal to the sum of the energy dissipation of the surrounding frame and that of the damper. In the process of damper damage evolution, the bearing capacity and stiffness of the energy dissipation substructure decrease gradually, and the seismic behavior of the surrounding frame is similar to that of the pure frame substructure at the same loading stage after the complete failure of damper. The substructure designed using the proposed design method exhibits the expected failure mode, and optimizes the energy dissipation capacity of the damper. Further increasing the longitudinal steel rebars of the surrounding frame does not notably influence the damage state of the plasticity hinge or the failure mode of the surrounding substructure.