Design and Analysis of Large-Scale Tests of a Self-centring Seismic-Resilient Steel MRF

Conventional seismic design methods rely on structural inelastic hysteretic response to dissipate seismic energy. This approach often results in extensive damage and substantial direct and indirect losses following high-intensity earthquakes, thereby affecting the overall resilience of communities. To address this issue, modern earthquake engineering is facing an extraordinarily challenging era in providing affordable, high-seismic-performance structures able to minimise both seismic damage and repair time. To this end, the ERIES SC-RESTEEL (Self-Centring seismic-RESilient sTEEL structures) project examines the structural response, repairability, resilience, and performance recovery of low-damage self-centring steel Moment-Resisting Frames (MRFs) equipped with friction devices and post-tensioned bars with disc springs at column bases and beam-to-column joints. Shaking table tests will be conducted at LNEC (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil) in Lisbon, Portugal, to investigate the performance of a large-scale 3-storey steel MRF. Key objectives include evaluating the seismic performance of the structure, its reparability strategy, and the performance after repairs. This paper presents the test specimen design, advanced Finite Element analyses of various joint configurations, and the preparatory work for the tests. The findings offer valuable insights into the expected experimental outcomes.