Development and experimental validation of finite element models for a prestressed lead extrusion damper

The emerging trend in earthquake-resistant structural design is to dissipate some part of the seismic input energy through energy-dissipating devices (EDDs). A prominent candidate to serve this purpose is the lead extrusion damper (LED), which dissipates seismic energy by the extrusion of lead through the displacement of a bulged shaft. The LEDs should be designed as they meet the demands of the host structural system. Hence, predicting the force–displacement relation and energy dissipation characteristics of the LED is essential. To serve this purpose, comprehensive three-dimensional finite element models (FEMs) were developed in this study to simulate the cyclic behavior of a prestressed LED. The methodology consisted of performing coupon tests, the development of FEMs, and experimental verification. Coupon tests were performed for lead and steel to simulate the nonlinear material behaviors better. The models were validated against the experimental results of the LED and a steel beam-to-column connection. In general, the adapted model satisfactorily captured the experimental results. The maximum differences in the maximum force and dissipated energy predictions were about 7.5% for the generated FEMs. In addition, the mean relative difference in predicting damper forces for eight LEDs selected from the literature was about 6%. The low relative differences between the models and experiments demonstrated that the adapted FEM could reliably estimate the cyclic response of the LEDs. It can be stated that the adapted three-dimensional finite element modeling strategy can be utilized robustly for design purposes.