In the last decades, high priority has been given by the research community to the development of low-damage structures. Moreover, repairability has become an important issue to be discussed in order to minimise the environmental and economic impact of reconstruction. In this context, the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) project DISSIPABLE was carried out with the aim to test large-scale structures in which the dissipation is concentrated on easily replaceable components of the structure.

In this paper, the response of a six-storey braced steel frame is analysed. The capacity of withstanding seismic actions relies on Dissipative Replaceable Bracing Connections (DRBrC), which constitute the brace-column joint. The energy dissipation is ensured by wide hysteresis loops experienced by DRBrC, whose configuration enables an easy replacement after a medium-high intensity earthquake. The results of the experimental campaign carried out at the University of Trento within the DISSIPABLE framework are compared with the numerical model developed at the University of Pisa in the finite element software OpenSees. In the former, the non-linear behaviour of DRBrC component was calibrated on the experimental tests on the component, which were carried out within DISSIPABLE framework, whilst in the latter, the analytical formulation proposed in the project guidelines was employed. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of using a simplified formulation in the modelling of the component, which can be easily implemented by a designer in a finite element model. Non-linear static analysis together with time-history analyses were performed to prove the suitability of the theoretical formulation. Different seismic intensity levels were considered: Damage Limitation (DL), Significant Damage (SD) and Near Collapse (NC) so to thoroughly investigate the seismic response of the structure.