Metal foam is a relatively new and potentially revolutionary material due to its properties such as the low weight-to-stiffness ratio, high damping and energy dissipation capacity. Even if this material is widely used in mechanical, aerospace and automotive industries, it is still not frequently used in civil engineering applications. The large energy dissipation capacity that metal foams possess could be exploited to control the seismic performance of structures, but only few research investigations have been focused on this matter. Within this context, the present paper investigates a possible solution to realize dissipative aluminum foam dampers to be applied in concentrically braced steel frames (CBFs). The bracing system consists of a steel rod or tube linked to the aluminum foam damper. The damper de-vice is constituted by aluminum foam that provides the structure with dissipation capacity when activated under compression. The permanent deformations of the aluminum foam are absorbed by a spring-wedge device, avoiding a pinching behaviour in the global response. Analytical equations governing the global behaviour of the bracing system are herein developed. A CBF complying with Eurocode 8 provisions is designed and considered as case-study to investigate the efficiency of the proposed solution. One of the storeys of the structure is extracted to investigate the local behaviour of a sub-assembly of CBF equipped with the proposed seismic device. The results of the conventional and upgraded systems are compared, showing the effectiveness of the solution.