I have a 8-story steel frame and I

[peterman722]

I have a 8-story steel frame and I am going to use supple braces, say, steel bars, as the brace system. Does the brace system used in steel frames have to be rigid ones, such as tube or angle iron?
thanks!

 

[dlew]

peterman,

For a 8-story high building I would use rigid members for vertical braces. Steel rods may be adequate for low pre-engineered buildings where lateral displacement of the structure is not a significant factor.

AEF

 

[Taro]

Is the building in an area of high seismicity? If so, most building codes limit the use of "tension only" braces for multistory buildings because they have historically performed poorly in past earthquakes. If they are used, they are often required to be designed for amplified forces in order to limit the amount of yielding that will occur.

 

[ishvaaag]

Yes, the main shakeouts may well exceed the limit capacity of the braces in tension in an earthquake, to loss of lateral stability. If an even low demand earthquake is to be assumed, better use rigid braces.

 

[peterman722]

Thank you all for your replys, which give me many helpful information.