Its not a tension-only brace. As i mentioned earlier its an SCBF (Special Concentric Braced Frame). In an SCBF the compression brace is allowed to buckle.
I have a vague sort of a proof from a powerpoint someone gave me. Its not nearly convincing enough though. Therefore, seeking opinions.
Its an essential facility and it has to be an SCBF therefore, unbraced length is a concern. Also, although the seimsic loads are not great, its a pretty long...
1) Could we really reduce the unbraced length by half if we were to provide a connection in the middle (of a single-story X-brace) and have all the braces break at the gusset plate? The reasoning that goes along with this design is that the tension brace would prestress the connection so much...
I am researching in seismic design of RC containment strutures where leakage is a very important issue.
So far i have only been able to find out the following two formulae for calculating maximum crack width. They're available in ACI 224.2R-5
Broms and Lutz for tensile cracking
Gergely and...
