SBIR Phase I: Structural Fuse - Sacrificial Energy Dissipation Mechanism for Structural Application

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目围绕着具有全球重要商业潜力的结构应用的牺牲能量耗散机制的开发。作为该设备预期初始应用的结构仅在美国每年的年出货量就超过20亿美元。然而，这些结构存在于地球仪的各个角落。该设备将为高地震活动地区的这些结构打开市场，目前其他材料组成的结构占据了市场。与竞争结构相比，采用这种装置还将节省大量成本，因为施工速度快得多，降低了总体施工成本，特别是在世界上经历地震活动的低收入地区。非对称轴向反应的概念在结构工程领域是独一无二的，这项研究为现有的知识体系提供了一个新的补充，这个项目的智力价值集中在一个独特的概念，将允许某些类型的结构，目前不允许由于管理安全规范，在高地震区建造。 该概念是不对称的轴向强度和刚度，由此在一个方向上轴向加载的机械装置提供与在相反方向上轴向加载的装置不同的响应。虽然该项目的目标是为特定应用开发这一概念，但这一概念在未来有可能被开发用于其他应用。由工业界资助的正在进行的大学研究试图找到解决这一特定抗震设计问题的方法，但尚未采取本项目打算采取的方向。第一阶段工作的最终研究目标是确定一种几何构型，以便该概念可以以工作机械装置的形式物理实现。研究将包括有限元建模和数值模拟，以及通过循环轴向加载序列对物理原型试样进行测试。预计工作配置将被发现、测试、建模，并放入全帧模型中进行额外的模拟。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project surrounds the development of a sacrificial energy dissipation mechanism for structural applications with globally significant commercial potential. The structures that are the intended initial application for the device represent over $2 billion in annual shipments per year in the United States alone. However, these structures exist all over the globe. This device will open up the market for these structures in regions of high seismicity, where structures of other material composition currently corner the market. Implementation of this device will also create significant cost savings in comparison to competing structures, as the speed of construction is much more rapid, reducing overall construction costs, especially in low-income regions of the world that experience seismic activity. The asymmetric axial response concept is unique in the field of structural engineering and this research offers a novel addition to the existing body of knowledge.The intellectual merit of this project centers on a unique concept that will allow certain types of structures, currently not permitted due to governing safety codes, to be built in high-seismic regions. The concept is that of asymmetric axial strength and stiffness, whereby a mechanical device loaded axially in one direction provides a different response to that of the device loaded axially in the opposite direction. Although this project's objective is to develop this concept for a specific application, there exists the potential for this concept to be developed for additional applications in the future. Ongoing university research, funded by industry, seeks to find a solution to this specific seismic design problem, but has not taken the direction that this project intends to take. The ultimate research objective for this Phase I effort is to determine a geometric configuration such that the concept can be physically realized in the form of a working mechanical device. The research will include finite element modeling and numerical simulations coupled with the testing of physical prototype specimens through cyclic axial loading sequences. It is anticipated that a working configuration will be discovered, tested, modeled, and placed into a full-frame model for additional simulation.