Research Grants

Completing the Load Path for Controlled Rocking Steel Braced Frames

This aim of this research is to develop and validate feasible connection details between floor diaphragms and Controlled Rocking Steel Braced Frames (CRSBFs). Connection details will be designed to achieve desired performance criteria while also minimizing costs associated with construction and fabrication, and the proposed connections will be tested experimentally under cyclic loading. The laboratory results will be used to validate the finite element models that were used to design the connections, and to develop simplified design guidance for implementing CRSBFs in practice.

[This work is an extension of Dr. Wiebe’s research on CRSBFs, supported in part by the CISC in 2014 – see grant year 2014].

Biography

Dr. Lydell Wiebe was the recipient of the G.J. Jackson Fellowship in 2005. He received his B.A.Sc. (2005) and Ph.D. (2013) from the University of Toronto, and his M.Sc. (2008) in Earthquake Engineering from the ROSE School in Pavia, Italy. Before joining the faculty of McMaster University, he worked as a consultant with Aurecon New Zealand to draft a Design Guide for Controlled Rocking Steel Braced Frames. Dr. Wiebe’s primary research focus is on predicting and mitigating damage to steel structures due to earthquakes.