Structural Fuse Cutouts for Controlled Yielding and Easier Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current design methods for structures, particularly metal buildings, result in oversizing components due to capacity-based design, leading to high construction costs and difficulty in repairing structural elements like beams, braces, and columns after severe events, making them non-resilient.
Innovation Solution
Structural fuses with strategically designed cutouts that preferentially yield under different loads, redirecting energy absorption away from main structural elements, allowing for controlled deformation and easier replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If capacity-based design is used to ensure structural safety, then strength and reliability are improved, but component size increases and construction cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The structural system is segmented into primary structural elements and replaceable fuse components. The fuse acts as a separate, sacrificial element that can be designed with optimized geometry (including cutouts) to provide the necessary strength and energy absorption capacity without requiring the entire structure to be oversized.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuse is designed as a replaceable, sacrificial component that is intended to fail in a controlled manner during extreme events. This allows the main structural elements to be designed for normal service conditions without the need for excessive oversizing, reducing overall construction cost while maintaining reliability.
2Use of energy by moving object
If main structural elements are designed to yield in controlled manner, then energy absorption is improved, but ease of repair deteriorates due to difficulty in removing and replacing large components
Solution Approach 1:
The energy absorption function is segregated into a dedicated fuse component that is separate from the main structural elements. This fuse is designed with features like cutouts to control yielding and maximize energy absorption capacity, while its smaller, modular size makes it significantly easier to remove and replace compared to beams, columns, or braces.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuse is designed as a replaceable component that absorbs energy through controlled yielding and subsequent failure. After an extreme event, only the fuse needs to be replaced rather than large structural elements, dramatically improving ease of repair and restoring the structure to its pre-event condition.
3Ease of manufacture
If structural components are designed without cutouts, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different loading conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fuse incorporates cutouts at specific locations to create localized yield zones that control the deformation pattern under different loading conditions. These cutouts are strategically positioned to ensure preferential yielding occurs at desired locations for different load types (e.g., shear, tension, compression), providing adaptability without requiring multiple different fuse designs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The structural fuses absorb and dissipate energy, preventing catastrophic failure and oversizing of components, facilitating easier repairs and reducing construction costs by allowing controlled yielding and targeted energy dissipation.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one first yield region configured to preferentially yield when a first load is applied to the plate. The at least one second yield region is configured to preferentially yield when a second load is applied to the plate.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments are directed to structural fuses and connection systems including the same. An example structural fuse includes at least one plate. The structural fuse includes a plurality of cutouts formed in the plate. The cutouts are configured to cause at least one first yield region of the plate to yield when a first load is applied to the plate. Optionally, the plurality of cutouts are configured to cause at least one second yield region to yield when a second load is applied to the plate. At least a portion of the first yield region is distinct from at least a portion of the second yield region and the first load is different than the second load.