Abstract

Improving a structure's earthquake resistance requires proper damper sizing to meet its requirements. This paper investigates the behavior of the steel plate shear yielding damper with octagonal holes (SPSYD-OH) using a finite element model validated by an experimental test. The computational simulation is performed in Ansys, utilizing the nonlinear kinematic hardening model to ascertain the hysteretic behavior of the damper and the “ekill” command to predict the fracture zones of the device. The model is employed to conduct a parametric study of the damper behavior considering the number of octagons on the plate in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Curve fitting is performed with the data to obtain equations to estimate parameters of the dampers (elastic and plastic stiffness, yielding force, yielding displacement, maximum force, and maximum displacement) based on the number of octagons in the dissipating plate. From these parameters, the hysteresis curve can be approximated to estimate the energy and cumulative displacement of the damper for a given distribution of octagons. The equations proposed in this study allowed the sizing of the requisite dampers to enhance the seismic resilience of a three-story building. This demonstrates the applicability of this research in the field of seismic-resistant design. Moreover, the methodology employed in this study can be extended to other geometries, thereby facilitating the sizing of dampers for structures with specific performance objectives. © 2025 Institution of Structural Engineers