Development of a new hexagonal honeycomb steel damper

Abstract

This paper presents a new metallic damper called hexagonal honeycomb steel damper (HHSD) for damage mitigation in structures subjected to earthquake excitations. The HHSD is composed of steel plates having several hexagonal and welded to the top and bottom anchor plates. The damper takes the advantages of hexagonal honeycomb geometry and steel material capability to dissipate seismic energy. The quasi-static cyclic test was performed experimentally and numerically on a series of specimens to evaluate the robustness of the HHSD. A three-dimensional finite element analysis of HHSD was carried out and verified with the experimental results. The results showed that the HHSD has low yield displacement, stable hysteretic behavior, a good range of ductility and high-energy dissipation capability. Additionally, the constitutive formulas of the damper are also derived based on the obtained results. Furthermore, it is found to have lightweight and inexpensive with ease of implementation as a potential alternative for new structures or seismic retrofitting of the existing structures.