Mechanical hysteresis model of a metal-wire Kagome truss for seismic strengthening for building systems

ABSTRACT In this study, we introduce a metal-wire Kagome truss damper and investigate its mechanical properties through theoretical analyses and experimental tests. The Kagome damper had high resistance to plastic buckling and low anisotropy. We propose an equation to estimate the yield strength of the damper, which was dependent on the geometric shape and thickness of the metal wire. We conducted cyclic shear loading tests to investigate the energy dissipation capacity and stiffness/strength degradation of the damper through repeated loading. Based on the hysteretic properties revealed by the tests, we found that modification of the ideal truss model with a hinged connection could predict the yield strength and stiffness of the damper. We present a numerical example to improve the seismic performance of a five-story reinforced concrete structure by installing Kagome dampers