Effect of column-foundation connection stiffness on seismic performance of rocking steel braced frame

Residual drifts after severe earthquakes interrupt serviceability of buildings. Retrofitting of such buildings is in many cases very difficult and consumes lots of time and money. Recently, there are some attempts to develop the seismic design procedures to not only satisfy life safety criteria but also lead to more economical buildings. One of these modern methods of improving seismic performance of the steel structures is using systems with ability of rocking. The main features of these new systems are to concentrate the damages in specific easily repairable locations of structures, to dissipate more energy and to reduce and limit the residual deformations. In this paper the effects of the column-foundation connection stiffness on the seismic performance of rocking steel braced frame are studied. Nonlinear dynamic time history analyses are applied, using seven far-field ground motion records in two intensity levels. The response parameters are mean of the maximum vertical accelerations of rocking columns, drifts, performance levels, in addition of the positive and negative vertical displacements. The results of this study indicate the positive effect of increase in the tensile stiffness and decrease of compressive stiffness in the column base connection on vertical accelerations, uplift and performance levels in the models with viscous dampers.