Modelización numérica del comportamiento estructural de barras de pandeo restringido

The energy dissipators are passive components that are incorporated into buildings and other structures undergoing dynamic excitations, especially earthquakes. Its purpose is to absorb the greatest part of the input energy, thus protecting the main structure. These devices are not a part of the main load-carrying system and therefore can be easily replaced after suffering serious damage. These devices are connected to the structure to be protected in such a way that they experience large strains under the action of the earthquakes; such strains produce the energy absorption. In building structures, the dissipators are installed in frames, usually in concentric bracing bars (either diagonal or chevron braces) since the interstory drifts generate significant distortions in these elements. Various types of dissipators have been proposed for building structures. Those based on yielding of metals, commonly known as hysteretic, are distinguished by their simplicity, economy and robustness; among them, the so-called buckling restrained braces have experienced a remarkable development because of their important advantages. The buckling restrained braces consist of concentric bracing bars composed by a slender steel core surrounded by a stockier casing, usually made of mortar and / or steel. It is crucial that there is a sliding interface between the core and the cover, to prevent relevant shear stress transfer. When the core is pulled or pushed it yields; the casing prevents the buckling of the core. These cycles of tensile and compressive yielding constitute the hysteresis loops through which the energy is dissipated. Despite relevant experience exists on buckling restrained braces (both on research and practical applications) many questions still remain unanswered. In particular, no reliable and accurate model of the structural behavior has been proposed. This lack prevents a deep understanding of the complex phenomena that occur during the operation of these elements, and hinders the development of innovative solutions. This work aims to improve the knowledge about the behavior of these devices, developing a comprehensive numerical model that opens the door for future developments. The results obtained with the proposed numerical model are compared with experimental results obtained at the University of Girona and the University of California