AN EFFICIENT ENERGY DISSIPATING DEVICE CALLED COMB-TEETH DAMPER

In this paper, a new type of yielding metallic damper called comb-teeth damper, CTD, is introduced. CTD is made of steel plates and includes a number of teeth that dissipate energy through in-plane flexural yielding. An optimum geometry of teeth is suggested, which assures uniform distribution of stress along them and prevents strain localization. Numerical FE modeling and test results are used to verify the design of proposed damper. Three full scale specimens have been made and tested under cyclic loading. The samples tolerated considerable cumulative displacement in their hysteresis cycles without any significant loss of strength. After these studies, the behavior of three simple steel frame equipped with proposed damper has been evaluated experimentally. The test results show that if this type of frames is designed appropriately, they can have a high energy dissipation capacity.