Experimental and analytical study of Block Slit Damper

This study proposes a novel type of metallic yielding damper called block slit damper or BSD. This damper is a slit damper with very low height to thickness ratio. This device has high shear capacities, and is more economical than SSD devices with high height to thickness ratios. Based on theoretical analysis the formulation for the BSD device's main parameters is derived. Then to investigate the hysteretic behavior of the proposed devices, 5 specimens with different aspect ratios (height-width ratios) were manufactured and tested in a quasi-static manner. The tests revealed that by reducing the aspect ratios, the shear and energy dissipation capacity increases while the displacement capacity decreases. The experimental analysis is compared to analytical analysis which showed a good agreement between them. Based on the buckling analysis conducted on the BSD, it was determined that by increasing the thickness of SSD devices, the device becomes buckle resistant while the unit material's dissipated energy remains the same. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.