EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DAMPER BRACES FOR REDUCING RESPONSE OF A STEEL MODEL BRIDGE

The authors have already investigated the structural performance of the energy-dissipating structural system with hysteresis braces (Damper Brace) by analyses and verified the hysteresis properties of Damper Brace by experiments. However for implementing the systems to bridges, it is important to verify the effect of reducing structural response under a ground motion. In this paper, seismic response tests were conducted with a scaled model of abutment structure in which Damper Braces were installed. As a result, it was confirmed that the seismic response of the model reduced significantly comparing to the standard structure without Damper Braces and that the Damper Braces had good energy dissipation during the excitation.