During earthquake ground motion, diagonal braces in braced frames are subject to a series of cyclic loadings, alternately tension and compression. The brace can buckle and deform plastically, dissipating energy with damage accumulating in the steel. Eventually a crack may form and the brace fractures. To optimize energy dissipation, the effects of brace and gusset plate dimensions (thickness and length of the gusset plate, size of the brace, length of the brace), and material properties, on brace behaviour, need to be understood. Ten concentric bracing members, designed according to the weak brace – strong gusset concept, were tested. The objective was to investigate the effects of displacement history, brace effective slenderness ratio, and brace width/thickness ratio, on the hysteresis behaviour of bracing members. Displacement history was found to affect energy dissipation and fracture life. The effects of increasing the gusset plate thickness on the energy dissipation and the fracture life is not the same as reducing the effective slenderness ratio of the bracing member resulted from reducing the length of the HSS. New fracture life and energy life equations are proposed.

Technology in transportation used available resources to make it safe, fast, suitable, easy, economic, and environmental to transport people and goods. Olive Husk became an environmental problem as waste materials especially in the Middle East where huge quantities are found. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of addition of Olive Husk Ash (OHA) on the properties of asphalt concrete mixtures. Marshall Test was used to perform the asphalt concrete mixture by the addition of OHA to the binder of asphalt; different percentages of OHA (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) by volume were added to the binder. Five percent of asphalt cements (5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 and 7%) by weight and limestone aggregate were used for preparing asphalt mixture specimens to find the optimum content of asphalt that could be used in the binder. Tests on flow, stability, air void percentage and void in mineral aggregate, retained stability, stiffness, and retained stiffness were made. The principle results on OHA as filler in Asphalt binder improves the Marshall Stability, and void in mineral aggregate and decrease in flow, retained stability, stiffness, and retained stiffness with a 10%-15% of olive husk ash replacement of asphalt binder. The contribution that OHA could be used as a pavement construction material in field.