Testing of seismic damper with replaceable U-shaped steel plates Abaqus

Product Overview

In this example, we intend to simulate the testing of a seismic damper with replaceable U-shaped steel plates in the Abaqus software.

As you observe in the picture, the model is composed of U-shaped steel plates, casing element, channel, bolts, diaphragm, and piston.

The U-shaped steel plates are the main energy-dissipating components of the damper and dissipate energy through flexural yielding under cyclic loading.

Model includes 12 U-shaped steel plates made of Q235B steel, with a plate thickness of 12 mm. The Abaqus model is used to investigate the cyclic behavior, deformation, yielding, and force–displacement hysteresis response of the damper.

Test Setup

Specimen D was tested under displacement-controlled cyclic loading. A hydraulic actuator was used to apply longitudinal displacement to the piston, causing the U-shaped steel plates to deform and develop flexural yielding.

The flanges of the U-shaped steel plates were connected to the piston and casing elements using high-strength bolts, allowing the plates to undergo flexural deformation under cyclic loading.

The experimental loading setup was reproduced in the Abaqus model to investigate the cyclic response of Specimen D.

Cyclic Loading

In this problem, cyclic loading is applied to the model, and then its hysteresis diagram is obtained.

The cyclic loading history is defined using the corresponding amplitude data in Abaqus.

Force-Displacement Hysteresis Diagram

After applying the cyclic loading, the Force-Displacement hysteresis diagram is obtained from the Abaqus results.

In this picture, the Force-Displacement hysteresis diagram obtained from the Abaqus software is compared with the experimental results.

Deformation and Yielding of the U-Shaped Steel Plates

Under cyclic loading, the U-shaped steel plates undergo significant deformation and develop flexural yielding. The yielding is mainly concentrated around the flange–web intersection regions, where the curvature of the U-shaped plates changes during cyclic deformation.

The Abaqus model is used to investigate the deformation pattern and yielding behavior of the U-shaped plates throughout the loading history. The numerical results provide a clear view of how the deformation develops as the imposed displacement increases.

Energy Dissipation

The seismic damper dissipates energy primarily through flexural yielding of the U-shaped steel plates. Under cyclic loading, the repeated deformation of these plates produces stable hysteretic behavior and allows the damper to dissipate energy through inelastic deformation.

The Abaqus model is used to investigate this energy-dissipation mechanism by examining the deformation and yielding behavior of the U-shaped plates during cyclic loading. The resulting hysteretic response provides an overall representation of the damper's energy-dissipation behavior.

Validation

This project has been validated, which means that the results obtained from the Abaqus software are similar to the results reported in the article.

In other words, this project is based on the reference article, and the numerical model has been developed to reproduce the experimental behavior of the seismic damper with replaceable U-shaped steel plates.

What You Will Learn

• How to model a seismic damper with replaceable U-shaped steel plates in Abaqus.
• How to model U-shaped steel plates.
• How to model the casing element, channel, bolts, diaphragm, and piston.
• How to assemble the components of the damper.
• How to define the material properties.
• How to define the boundary conditions.
• How to apply cyclic loading.
• How to define the cyclic loading amplitude.
• How to obtain the Force-Displacement hysteresis diagram.
• How to investigate the deformation of the damper under cyclic loading.
• How to compare Abaqus results with experimental results.
• How to validate the numerical model using the reference article.

Key Features

• Seismic damper with replaceable U-shaped steel plates.
• U-shaped steel plate modeling in Abaqus.
• Cyclic loading analysis.
• Force-Displacement hysteresis analysis.
• Deformation analysis under cyclic loading.
• Comparison between Abaqus and experimental results.
• Validation against the reference article.
• Complete Abaqus CAE file.
• Abaqus INP file.
• Excel amplitude loading file.
• Excel results file.
• Reference research paper.
• Step-by-step video tutorial.

Reference

This project is based on the reference research article. The paper is included with the project files and can be used to review the experimental model, cyclic loading protocol, and reported results.