Seismic Energy Dissipation with a WAAM Lattice-Optimized Corner Crescent Shaped Brace
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The impact of earthquakes on building structures is well-known, leading to a growing focus on seismic-resistant design. Among various energy dissipation de-vices, the Crescent Shaped Brace (CSB) stands out for its ability to meet stiffness, strength, ductility and ultimate capacity requirements due to its unique geometric configuration. This study presents an optimized version of the corner CSB device, transitioning from a fully dense to a lattice-based configuration, a transformation made possible by Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technology, among the Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes. WAAM enables the fabrication of complex geometries unattainable with conventional methods, allowing the realization of a light-weight, structurally efficient lattice corner CSB. The CSB is based on diamond lattice unit cells, leading to two configurations: diamond-frame and diamond-truss, the latter incorporating additional vertical struts for an axial-force-dominated behavior, improving load-bearing capacity. An experimental campaign validated the WAAM fabrication of high-quality struts and nodes, ensuring structural reliability.