Analyzing the Performance of EBF Links Using Linear and Quadratic Solid Elements

Abstract – The Eccentrically Braced Frame (EBF) system is widely employed for dissipating seismic energy in high seismic areas due to its ease of design, construction, and exceptional performance. EBF structures show excellent performance in dissipating the earthquake energy for excellent ductility and strength parameters compared to MRF and CBF structural types. Analytical studies of experimental EBF structures require enormous resources in terms of funding, equipment, time, and a high risk of failure. Numerical analysis is an alternative step for research on EBF structures that can be carried out on a full scale, in contrast to experimental research that can only be carried out on a model or sub-assembled scale. The choice of element type in numerical applications is a very important study. Consideration of data accuracy and cheap resources are the main considerations. In this research, a study was conducted on the earthquake energy dissipation element, namely the link in the EBF structure, by observing the difference in the use of solid (3D) element types, namely linear and quadratic elements, using the ANSYS 2023 R1 software application. The element size in the link specimen uses a uniform size, with differences in the size and type of elements in each link specimen. The number of link specimens analyzed was 8 pieces, with each element type consisting of 4 pieces. The results showed that link specimens with quadratic elements and small element sizes showed excellent results compared to link specimens with linear elements of the same element size. The accuracy of the results obtained from the quadratic element specimens is mainly in the reading of strain and stress values in the critical zone. For the structural performance on the variables of strength, overstrength and plastic rotation angle obtained in all the analyzed link specimens showed relatively similar results. The results show that the use of linear elements with small element sizes gives excellent results and is more efficient than the use of quadratic elements.