A New Hysteretic Device for Lateral Resisting Systems: Crescent Shaped Braces

This paper describes the procedures for the seismic design of special lateral resisting elements, which will be referred to as Crescent Shaped Braces (CSBs). CSBs connect two points of the structure with elements whose geometric configuration is ad \u201choc\u201d defined in order to provide the structure with prescribed seismic performances, within the Performance Based Seismic Design framework. In detail, the present work gives analytical, numerical and experimental results in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the seismic behaviour of these devices, with special attention devoted to the design purposes