Numerical Investigation of the Rod‐Connected Welded‐Plate Flexural Yielding Damper

Abstract

Replaceable hysteretic dampers installed at the ends of diagonal braces provide an effective strategy to enhance the seismic resilience of concentrically braced frames (CBFs). This study investigates a newly developed rod‐connected welded‐plate flexural yielding damper (RCWPFYD) through comprehensive numerical analyses. The RCWPFYD is a modified version of the conventional welded‐plate flexural yielding damper (WPFYD), incorporating rod connections to improve replaceability and post‐yield stiffness. A two‐phase numerical study was conducted. In the first phase, the proposed damper was evaluated using high‐fidelity finite element models to characterize its cyclic behavior. Parametric studies explored the effects of number of yielding plates, net distance, and material properties on the damper's axial strength and elastic stiffness. In the second phase, nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed in OpenSees on chevron frame configurations of 3‐, 6‐, and 9‐story buildings to assess system‐level performance. The results showed that, under design based level earthquake (DBE) loading, the proposed dampers effectively reduced residual drifts to 0.15% for the 3‐story frame, 0.21% for the 6‐story frame, and 0.16% for the 9‐story frame, while maintaining stable energy dissipation. Overall, the findings confirm that RCWPFYDs offer a practical, replaceable solution for seismic protection of steel CBFs, meeting both component‐ and system‐level performance requirements.