Energy-dissipating brace damper

Braced Energy Dissipation Damper with Inflectional Shape Memory Members and Friction Adjustment Bolts

This technology is a brace damper where an inner member slides against an outer member elongated in the X-direction. It features shape memory members with two or more curved surfaces containing inflection points, connected at both ends within the sliding range. The friction between the two members can be adjusted on-site by tightening the bolts and nuts through the slot holes of the outer and inner members.

Conventional friction dampers installed in braces have fixed friction forces and travel distances, making it impossible to match performance to the varying compressive/tensile forces and required displacement at different brace connection points. Furthermore, after absorbing external forces, the friction surfaces remain displaced, causing residual deformation in the structure and incurring replacement costs.

In this technology, as the inner member slides, the wavy curved surfaces of the shape memory members compress or extend in the X-direction to absorb energy, returning to their original shape after the load is removed to reset the brace. By placing elastic members between two shape memory members overlapped in the direction of curvature and connecting both outer members with a connecting member, restoring force and stiffness can be increased. This allows for seismic reinforcement of steel building frames, enabling customized damping performance via bolt adjustment and reuse without residual deformation after an earthquake.

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Key Features:

• An outer member elongated in the X-direction and an inner member capable of sliding along the X-direction while its outer surface rubs against the inner surface of the outer member
• A shape memory member, with both ends coupled to the outer and inner members respectively, formed of two or more curved surfaces with inflection points, which compresses or extends in the X-direction within the sliding range of the inner member
• A structure that adjusts the friction force between the two surfaces by forming X-direction slot holes on the inner surface of the outer member and the outer surface of the inner member, and coupling them with bolts and nuts through the slots
• A configuration that interposes an elastic member between a first and second shape memory member overlapping in the direction of curvature, and connects both outer members with a connecting member

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