Determination of economic criteria for 2-storey X-shaped buckling restrained brace in reinforced concrete structures

In a geography where seismic activity is prevalent in Turkey, ensuring safety measures in any building design is of paramount importance to minimize loss of life and property. Considering today's economic conditions, besides compliance with safety standards, another significant factor to consider in a construction project is its cost. In the construction sector, the primary elements in cost calculations for reinforced concrete structures typically revolve around concrete, formwork, and reinforcing steel. The current focus of examination is the impact of reinforced concrete structure costs and the use of Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) as an alternative to the quantity of concrete, formwork, and reinforcement steel. The Period Design Spectral Acceleration Coefficient (SDS) value for 20-story reinforced concrete residential buildings in Karlıova district of Bingöl province in Turkey. These buildings were modeled with different structural systems: frame system, shear wall system, and BRB braced frame system, followed by analyses and determination of concrete, formwork, and reinforcement quantities. The aim is to determine the most advantageous design by examining the behavior and cost of three reinforced concrete buildings with different structural systems yet serving similar purposes in the same region. The objective is to compare the performance and costs of these structures to identify the most suitable option. In this study, the feasibility of using BRBs, which carry horizontal loads, instead of reinforced concrete shear wall elements, was evaluated. The resulting data provides a comparative analysis of the behavior and cost of structures, contributing to the identification of the most efficient design. Within the scope of this study, 20-story reinforced concrete residences have been designed and analyzed according to TBDY-2018. Selected structural systems were designed using the ETABS program, where, for comparative purposes, a building was designed with BRBs placed as two-story X brace instead of shear wall elements in a shear wall system. The analysis results indicated that instead of shear wall system, the BRBs braced frame system is a candidate lateral load carrying system against the earthquake.