In an effort to address the desire for continued occupancy of buildings following design level earthquakes, a new structural system referred to as the Linked Column Frame (LCF) is being developed. This structural system consists of moment frames for the primary gravity load and a combination of closely spaced dual columns interconnected with bolted links acting together with the gravity moment frame for the lateral system. This paper outlines the LCF system design for 3 and 6 story buildings and compares them to special moment frame designs of the same building layout. Non-linear pushover analyses were used to identify the influence of individual components of the system, providing the designer with recommendations for optimally meeting lateral design criteria. The system overall had exhibited three distinct performance levels; linearly elastic, rapid return to occupancy where only the replaceable links would yield, and collapse prevention where the gravity components also become damaged.
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