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LATEST NEWS

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  Turkeybuild Istanbul

  We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has visited us at our booth at the Turkeybuild Istanbul Fair between May 2-6, 2012.

  
  
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  Construct Expo in Bucharest

  Thank you for visiting our stand at the Construct Expo in Bucharest, Romania between March 29 - April 1, 2012. The fair was a success and we appreciate you taking precious time to come visit our booth.

  
  
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  Our website continues to develop

  Star Seismic Europe’s website is already available in Turkish and Bulgarian languages.

  
  
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  Batimat International Building Exhibition in Paris

  Star Seismic Europe was an exhibitor at the Batimat International Building Exhibition in Paris, France between November 7-11, 2011. Conference website: www.batimat.com

  
  
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  Our website has become multilingual

  We are pleased to inform you that our website is now available in English, Hungarian, German, Russian and Romanian languages as well.

  
  
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  BRBF overview

  A brief overview of the BRBF system and its design has been given in the Modern Steel Construction (MSC) journal by Kimberly Robinson as co-editor, lead structural engineer of Star Seismic.

  
  
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  Airport development

  Star Seismic BRB members were used for the lateral support of the reinforced concrete parking structure of the John Wayne Airport of a total cost of 48.5 million dollars.

  
  
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  Bulgarian pilot project

  Star Seismic Europe Ltd. has realized a pilot project in Plovdiv, Bulgaria as part of the new 51.5MW capacity power plant of EVN. We have fabricated 6 BRB elements with 141 and 194kN elastic capacity which were installed in one of the technological structures of the power plant.

  
  
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  Test report according to EN 15129 and ECCS

  Test results of certain elements according to EN 15129 and ECCS protocols are available on our website. The paper describes detailed test results of two Star Seismic BRBs. The tests were performed at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, in the Structural Laboratory of the Department of Structural Engineering.

  
  
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  New cost analysis published

  Cost advantages of Buckling Restrained Braced Frame buildings in accordance with Eurocode study of Star Seismic Europe compares Buckling Restrained Braced Frames to Concentrically Braced Frames as primary lateral load resisting systems from an economical perspective. It investigates the expected total costs of a 3-story and a 7-story steel frame structure for three different bracing options.

  
  

• Test reports available

  Full scale test reports of Star Seismic's BRBs can be downloaded from our technical support page. These reports describes the results and analysis of tests performed on 20 Buckling Restrained Braces manufactured by Star Seismic. The tests were performed on the Seismic Response Modification Device (SRMD) shake table facility at the University of California, San Diego, at the University of Utah and at the Budapest University of Technology and ...

  
  

REFERENCE PROJECTS

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  Airport development

  Location: Santa Ana, California, USA
  Star Seismic BRB members were used for the lateral support of the reinforced concrete parking structure of the John Wayne Airport of a total cost of 48.5 million dollars.

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  Bulgarian pilot project

  Location: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
  Force range: 141 - 194kN
  Max. length: 2.8 - 3.1m
  
  Star Seismic Europe Ltd. has realized a pilot project in Plovdiv, Bulgaria as part of the new 51.5MW capacity power plant of EVN. We have fabricated 6 BRB elements with 141 and 194kN elastic capacity which were installed in one of the technological structures of the power plant. In the project we have designed our standard Wildcat elements to conne...

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  Plum Point Energy Station

  Location: Osceola, Arkansas, USA
  

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  UCSF Medical Center

  Location: San Francisco, California, USA
  To maximize survivability during and after a seismic event, over 300 Star Seismic BRBs have been used in the UCSF Medical Center project in San Francisco, USA.

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  Californai Lottery Headquarter

  Location: San Francisco, California, USA
  The Star Seismic Europe BRB system was selected in the California Lottery design; the result was fewer braces, less material, smaller beams and columns.

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  Benaroya Companies, South Hill

  Location: Puyallup, Washington, USA
  Using existing connections, structural engineers replaced the existing braces with Star Seismic BRB’s. Also, the importance factor was increased to 1.25 with no frame modifications.

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  Real Soccer Lake stadium

  Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  The stadium of Real Salt Lake soccer team was completed in 2008 and houses 20,000 seats. Shortening erection time had major importance: thanks to the application of BRB system the construction was finished in less than 10 months. This fast construction and the reduced amount of steel material led to a cost saving of $1 million (9.1% of total costs)...

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  Seahawks Practice Facility

  Location: Renton, Washington, USA
  Force range: 400 - 800kN
  Max. length: 9.9m
  
  The practice facility of the Seattle Seahawks football team was completed in 2008. The training complex is also known as the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, in Renton, USA. An indoor training field is part of the facility, which has a height of over 20 meters. The designers recognized the advantages of BRBF and employed Buckling Restrained Braces i...

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  LA Live, 56-story highrise

  Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
  Force range: 3300 - 9800kN
  Max. length: 10.0m
  
  The 56-story L.A. Live Hotel & Residences, located in downtown Los Angeles incorporates a coupled system of Buckling Restrained Braced Frames with steel plate shear wall system that returned 1860m² of floor area to the developer, which added $20 million extra in real estate value and overall structural cost savings of $8 million compared...

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  One Rincon Hill tower

  Location: San Francisco, California, USA
  Force range: 5340kN
  Max. length: 5.5 - 6m
  
  The 64-story One Rincon Hill tower in San Francisco was the first structure in which BRB elements were used in the outrigger system. The diagonals which connect the outer steel columns and the concrete core are located between levels 26 to 32 and levels 51 to 55. Total of 16 BRB elements are used in the structure. With the support of Performance-Ba...

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  Park Terraces towers

  Location: Manila, Philippines
  The 187m tall Park Terraces in Manila consists of three separate towers. Star Seismic BRB elements were used in their lateral force resisting – so called outrigger – system. Performance-Based Design was also used in the seismic analysis of the structures, perimeter beams were eliminated from the façade, therefore the real estate value h...

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  Washington Mutual Tower, office building

  Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
  The 42-story Washington Mutual Tower (WAMU) and the 16-story Seattle ART Museum (SAM) form a special building complex. The lateral force resisting system of the tower consists of a concrete core which is complemented by an outrigger system up to about one-third of the building. The outrigger system includes the diagonal BRB elements as well. The ot...

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  US Air Force - F22 Hangar

  Location: Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, USA
  Force range: 270 - 530kN
  Max. length: 3.3m
  
  Due to the significant value of the protected airplanes and because BRBs can be used in a single diagonal configuration which reduces overall structural costs, Star Seismic BRBs were used in the F-22 Hangar of the United States Air Force.

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  Board of Realtors

  Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  Force range: 270 - 1600kN
  Max. length: 5.7m
  
  As a design-assist project, Star Seismic's Buckling Restrained Braces were selected because of their cost-effectiveness and the ability to display the braces on the exterior of the building. After analysis of cost, loads and length, a welded Wildcat connection was chosen.

Popular downloads

Test reports

These reports describes the results of tests performed on Buckling Restrained Braces, manufactured by Star Seismic.

Cost advantages of Buckling Restrained Braced Frame buildings

The cost study indicates that significant, 30 EUR/m² saving can be achieved in comparison to a moderate dissi- pative, q=4 CBF system. Compared to low dissipa- tive, q=1.5 CBF systems, even higher, 86 EUR/m² and 95 EUR/m² can be saved in case of the 3-story and 7-story buildings respectively.

For further downloads: see our technical support menu