Development and testing of knife-plate connected steel panel dampers

Steel panel dampers (SPDs), consisting of the inelastic panel and elastic connecting segments, have been widely used in steel building structures commonly with brace- or stub-column-type configurations, especially in high seismic regions. The elastic connecting segments of stubcolumn-type SPDs were usually significantly enlarged to ensure their elasticity under the associated extreme loads of the inelastic panel. With the aim of improving the structural efficiency and ductility capability of SPDs, a novel design, named as knife-plate-connected SPD (KSPD), was proposed in the study. The proposed KSPD consisted of one steel panel and two boundarycolumns on the horizontal sides with pinned column ends, which were achieved by knife-plate details, connecting to the framing systems. The designed configuration of KSPDs potentially reduced the aspect ratio of the steel panels for easily achieving shear yielding while remaining the stud-column appearance, and mitigated the deformation amplification of the steel panels usually occurred in conventional stub-column-type SPDs. Five full-scale KSPD specimens with various configurations of the panel stiffeners have been experimentally examined and compared under cyclic loadings including fatigue cycles. The feasibility of the KSPD design was experimentally validated, and the developed KSPDs were verified to achieve stable energy dissipation and significant ductility of approximate ten and cumulative plastic deformation (CPD) value up to 796. For the design purpose of the members, the width-to-thickness limits of the steel panel were established to prevent panel buckling and the sub-panel edge fracture upon the test results, respectively, and a design inequality of the knife plates upon strengths was developed to prevent the fracture of the knife plate. Finally, the design suggestions of the proposed KSPD were summarized upon the experimental results and findings of the study.

Automated summary

This study proposes a novel design of steel panel dampers (KSPD) which consists of a steel panel and two boundary columns connected by knife-plate details. Experimental results validate the feasibility of the KSPD design and demonstrate its stable energy dissipation and significant ductility. Design suggestions for the KSPD are summarized based on the experimental results and study findings.