Seismic design and performance assessment of steel storage racking systems equipped with self-centering friction dampers
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, cilt.211, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 211
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.soildyn.2026.110643
- Dergi Adı: Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, Environment Index, Geobase, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Energy dissipation, Nonlinear time history analysis, Residual drift, Seismic resilience, Self-centering friction dampers, Steel storage racks
- Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Steel storage racking systems are critical to the logistics supply chain, yet they are highly vulnerable to seismic events due to their high live-to-dead load ratio and the slenderness of their cold-formed steel profiles. Conventional seismic design relies on ductility, which can lead to structural damage, and standard friction dampers introduce permanent residual drifts. This study proposes a novel application of self-centering friction dampers (SCFD) for down-aisle seismic protection of rack systems. A performance-based design procedure is developed with the dual objectives of keeping the primary structural members within the elastic range to prevent structural damage and minimizing floor accelerations to mitigate merchandise shedding. The study investigates the system's hysteretic behavior, focusing on the slip-to-ultimate force ratio ( F slip /F ult ). An analytical optimization identifies the ratio that maximizes energy dissipation, and this result is subsequently verified through nonlinear time-history analyses in SAP2000 on rack models subjected to a suite of scaled ground motions. The results show that the SCFD-equipped rack system achieves near-zero residual drift while keeping the primary structural members within the elastic range. Furthermore, compared to conventional elastic rack systems, the SCFD configuration reduces peak floor accelerations by approximately 60–65% and peak floor velocities by approximately 20–30%, significantly lowering the risk of goods sliding or toppling during seismic events. The study confirms that an analytically derived optimal F slip /F ult ratio correlates well with numerical peak performance, providing a robust parameter for the seismic design of resilient storage racks.