IIT Delhi researchers develop low-cost braces to improve earthquake resistance of structures

NEW DELHI: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi have developed buckling restrained braces that can provide better protection to constructions from earthquakes. These braces are claimed to be low-cost and elastic and to have advantageous features such as all-steel components, onsite fabrication and assembling process, post-earthquake inspection, and easy replacement.

According to a statement from IIT Delhi, these braces can also be installed in steel and concrete bridges to improve their earthquake resistance. The buckling-restrained braces developed by IIT Delhi researchers will use both seismic forces resisting systems and vibration control devices. The institute claims that the hybrid buckling-restrained braces (HBRBs) developed by the IITD researchers have higher strength, ductility, and energy dissipation potential.

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Dipti Ranjan Sahoo, a professor at the civil engineering department of IIT Delhi and his student Ahmad Fayeq Ghowsi fabricated the braces at the Heavy Structures Laboratory in IIT Delhi. The research received funds under the Fund for Improvement of S-T Infrastructure (FIST) programme of the department of science and technology (DST).

According to Sahoo, a patent has recently been applied for the same. “The proposed technology is effective in the new constructions and has a great potential for the up-gradation and retrofitting of seismically deficient reinforced concrete (RC) and steel framed structures, such as residential/office buildings, hospitals, and school buildings. We have filed a patent for this technology,” he said.

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