Optimization of the curved metal damper to improve structural energy dissipation capacity

Structural curved metal dampers are implemented in various applications to mitigate the damages at a specific area efficiently. A stable and saturated hysteretic behavior for the in-plane direction is dependent on the shape of a curved-shaped damper. However, it has been experi-mentally shown that the hysteretic behavior in the conventional curved-shaped damper is un-stable, mainly as a result of bi-directional deformations. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct shape optimization for curved dampers to enhance their hysteretic behavior and energy dissipa-tion capability. In this study, the finite element (FE) model built in ABAQUS, is utilized to obtain optimal shape for the curved-shaped damper. The effectiveness of the model is checked by com-parisons of the FE model and experimental results. The parameters for the optimization include the curved length and shape of the damper, and the improved approach is conducted by investi-gating the curved sections. In addition, the design parameters are represented by B-spline curves (to ensure enhanced system performance), regression analysis is implemented to derive optimi-zation formulations considering energy dissipation, constitutive material model, and cumula-tive plastic strain. Results determine that the energy dissipation capacity of the curved steel damper could be improved by 32% using shape optimization techniques compared to the con-ventional dampers. Ultimately, the study proposes simple optimal shapes for further imple-mentations in practical designs.