Resilient Slip Friction Joint (RSFJ): Completed and ongoing projects in research and practice

Abstract

The innovative Resilient Slip Friction Joint (RSFJ) technology has recently been developed and introduced to the New Zealand construction industry. This low damage system aims to minimize the earthquake-induced damage and downtime while providing life-safety. The RSFJ is a self-centring friction-based energy dissipation device that provides the required seismic performance regardless of the material used for the main structural components. It can be used in various lateral load resisting systems including (but not limited to) shear walls, rocking columns, tension-compression braces, tension-only braces and moment resisting frames. Given the nature of this technology, it can be implemented in different lateral load reissuing systems with different configurations. Since 2016, this technology has been implemented in different projects in New Zealand and overseas. This poster provides a summary of different projects that the technology was implemented, and the design approach used for each project is presented and discussed. Furthermore, recent outcomes of the research on this technology is presented. This includes large-scale testing of tension-only braces, tension-compression braces, moment -resisting frames and specimen design for a full-scale shake table test. Overall, this paper intends to give an insight to the earthquake engineering society about the advantages of the technology, design methods and implementation techniques.