Ductile eccentrically braced frames designed in accordance with the New Zealand Steel Structures Standard, NZS 3404, provide life safety during a design level or greater earthquake; however, the eccentrically braced frame active link may sustain
significant damage through repeated inelastic deformation. This may necessitate postearthquake
replacement of the active link. A bolted replaceable active link can be used to facilitate replacement after a strong earthquake, which reduces repair costs.
New Zealand design guidance for the seismic design of steel eccentrically braced frames was first published in 1995 by the New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association within HERA Report R4-76 and has been widely used in practice. This guidance has been recently updated and now includes seismic design procedures for eccentrically
braced frames with replaceable links. This article covers the development and research of eccentrically braced frames with replaceable links. This includes discussions of the comprehensive research programme recently completed in Canada investigating the performance of eccentrically braced frames with replaceable links and finite element analysis undertaken by the New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association, to
verify the design procedure for eccentrically braced frames with replaceable links.
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