A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE CYCLIC RESPONSE OF REPLACEABLE FUSE IN HYBRID COUPLING BEAM

Abstract

Abstract Reinforced concrete (RC) coupled wall is employed in regions of high seismicity as an efficient lateral load resisting system. However, the existence of coupling beams is crucial and affects the performance and effectiveness of this system. Various researchers had worked on coupled wall systems through the development of coupling beams till reaching the hybrid coupled wall system “HCW”. A hybrid coupled wall system comprises a steel coupling beam as an alternative to an RC beam. Many researchers have reported enhanced performance of the steel coupling beams against RC beams due to size/weight reduction, superior energy-dissipation characteristics, ease of construction, and ductility. Nevertheless, the post-damage repair is achieved and established through an innovative steel coupling beam with a replaceable central “Fuse” link. The central link is used in the coupled wall system so that all energy and damage are focused into the fuse section, while the rest of the beam and wall piers remain elastic and undamaged, and hence the central link/fuse is replaced to repair the system. Briefly, the central link or replaceable fuse is much the same as the fuse used in electric machines to prevent their breakdown. This research is divided into two phases: Phase 1 demonstrates the development of the coupled shear wall with a replaceable fuse and exhibits numerous design methodologies of the replaceable steel fuse available in the literature. Thereafter, Phase 2 exhibits an experimental database of half-scale steel coupling beams with a replaceable fuse, which is tested under cyclic load. Accordingly, a non-linear finite element analysis is conducted using ABAQUS software to predict the hysteretic curve of steel fuse coupling beams in the compiled database. Consequently, a comparison is conducted between the results of the experimental data and the non-linear finite element analysis to verify the efficiency of the generated numerical model to predict the hysteretic curves. A good correlation is found between experimental results and results from the proposed numerical model, and the model can closely approach the hysteretic curve of steel fuse coupling beams. As a result, to continue the investigation, the verified numerical model is used in a parametric study.