Numerical investigation of a novel rib-shaped damper for enhanced seismic energy dissipation in structural systems

In this paper, an innovative metallic energy dissipation device, known as a rib-shaped damper (RSD), is proposed. The RSD protects the main structural elements from plastic deformation and failure by dissipating seismic energy through flexural yielding of the ribs. The RSD configuration was developed through analytical methods, and the seismic behavior of RSD was studied using finite element modeling. Two laboratory tests were used to validate the RSD models. Numerical parametric analyses of 19 specimens were conducted to examine the effects of key geometric parameters on energy dissipation capacity, including rib thickness ( t ), rib depth ( D ), horizontal distance ( S ), curved horizontal distance ( d ), radius ( R ), and vertical distance ( H ). Results showed that increasing the rib thickness from 12 to 30 mm increased the energy dissipation by 185.24 %. Doubling the rib depth from 30 mm to 60 mm increased the energy dissipation by 99.39 %, nearly doubling the energy capacity. Increasing the radius from 120 mm to 178 mm improved energy dissipation by 55.83 %, but gains plateaued beyond that radius. Vertical distance had a strong negative effect on dissipation capacity, and when the vertical distance was increased from 380 mm to 450 mm, the energy dissipation decreased by 57.48 %. With increasing horizontal distance, energy dissipation also decreased. The curved horizontal distance had the least impact because the differences in energy dissipation among the models were less than 5 %. Furthermore, equations for the basic RSD geometry, as well as for calculating the yield and damper strengths, were derived and verified. The results indicate that these equations yield accurate predictions. • A novel seismic damper (RSD) is proposed. • The seismic behavior of the new RSD under cyclic loading is investigated. • The effects of key parameters on the performance of the RSD are studied. • Numerical results indicate that the RSD exhibits strong energy dissipation capacity. • The seismic demand on the RSD of retrofitted steel frames is investigated.