Abstract: The contact force distribution between the core member and the external member of a buckling-restrained brace (BRB) is closely related to its deformation mode, and it directly affects the working state of the extended core and external restraining member. This study focuses on a pinned BRB with extended core as a research object and investigates the stress state of a BRB. Based on the specified core deformation modes and contact force distributions, the contact force and the bending moment distribution in the external member are deduced. Lastly, by considering the mechanical characteristics of the external member and extended strengthened core region (ESCR), their strength design criteria are established. In the theoretical derivation of the design method, the influence of some parameters is considered, including the initial geometrical imperfection of the external member, the gap between the core and the external member, the rigidity reduction of the restrained strengthened core region (RSCR), and the change of contact position. Finite element numerical verification of the corresponding theoretical derivation is discussed in detail in another paper as Part II (Jiang et al., 2015).

Key words: External integrated buckling-restrained brace (BRB), Core single-wave overall deformation, Contact force distribution, Strengthened core region (SCR), Strength design criteria

Please provide your name, email address and a comment

Your Name: Affili: E-Mail Address:

Comment (Please comment in English):


Verification Code(click to change a pic):