According to capacity design principles the non-dissipative zones should behave elastically. This implies that these elements are subjected to high strength demand. Therefore, it is rational and convenient to design steel frames with the combined use of high strength steel (S460 and S690) for non-dissipative elements and the mild steel (S235 to S355) for those dissipative. Such a structure is termed dual-steel structure. Thanks to this approach it is possible to design non-dissipative elements (e.g., columns) with smaller cross-section size than the case of mild steel only. At the same time, it is possible to fulfill easily the design target of a dissipative structure, composed by "plastic" and "elastic" members, able to form a full global plastic mechanism at the failure, in which the history of occurrence of plastic hinges in ductile members can be reliable controlled by design procedures. These considerations motivated the study presented in this paper. In particular, the preliminary results of a numerical study aimed at characterizing the seismic response of dual-steel concentric braced structures are presented and discussed.
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