A numerical analysis on the performance of buckling restrained braces at fire-study of the gap filler effect

Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB) have been widely used in the construction industry as they utilize the most desirable properties of both constituent materials, i.e., steel and concrete. They present excellent structural qualities such as high load bearing capacity, ductility, energy-absorption capability and good structural fire behaviour. The effects of size and type of filler material in the existed gap at the steel core-concrete interface as well as the element's cross sectional shape, on BRB's fire resistance capacity was investigated in this paper. A nonlinear sequentially-coupled thermal-stress three-dimensional model was presented and validated by experimental results. Variation of the samples was described by three groups containing, the steel cores with the same cross section areas and equal yield strength but different materials (metal and concrete) and sizes for the gap. Responses in terms of temperature distribution, critical temperature, heating elapsed time and contraction level of BRB element were examined. The study showed that the superior fire performance of BRB was obtained by altering the filler material in the gap from metal to concrete as well as by increasing the size of the gap. Also, cylindrical BRB performed better under fire conditions compared to the rectangular cross section.