Local fuse for improving concentric braces behavior

The concentrically braced system is one of the most common lateral load bearing systems among steel structures. These systems have remarkable lateral stiffness and strength, but their compressive buckling prevents them from being ductile and absorbing optimal energy. In this study to solve this problem, by using numerical and experimental studies, a heuristic method is presented. In this method, a local fuse is used along the rectangular hollow section brace. This fuse is mounted by internal and external auxiliary elements to prevent its local buckling under compressive load. This makes the brace behave in a similar manner in both tensile and compressive cyclic loads, resulting in ductile behavior and high-energy absorption. Also in this study, by using numerical results, an investigation is done for the proper position of the fuse along the braces and its optimal shape.