 Study of Inelastic Behavior of Eccentrically Braced Frames under Non Linear Range Dr. S. N. Tande Professor & Head., Department of Applied Mechanics, Walchand college of Engineering, Sangli, Maharashtra, India Amol A. Sankpal Department of Applied Mechanics, Walchand college of Engineering, Sangli, Maharashtra, India Abstract:This paper provides an introduction and overview of the design and behavior of seismic-resistant eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). Within last ten years, EBF’s have become a widely recognized lateral load resisting system for steel building in areas of high seismicity. In general, braces are the members that resist against lateral forces in a steel structure while the structures are under seismic excitation. Although the height of a structure and the structural system are the two parameters which can affect the inelastic behavior and response of the structure but these parameters have not been taken into consideration in the current design codes for designing of Eccentric Braced Frames (EBFs). In this study six frames were exerted which were braced with three different eccentric braces (V, Inverted-V and Diagonal) in two different heights (4 and 8 story). Then the frames were assessed by nonlinear static (pushover) analysis mainly based on FEMA 440 (2005). As a result of these frame analysis, it can be observed that the plastic hinges firstly occur at the fuse section of braces and then at the compressive members of the eccentric braces. Furthermore, a comparison relevant to the total weight of the frames has been conducted among the above mentioned frames. The primary purpose of this paper is to present the best suitable bracing system up to 8 story level in performance point of view and also economy point of view. Keywords: nonlinear static analysis, Eccentric diagonal Bracing system, Eccentric Inverted-V bracing system, Eccentric V bracing system, Inelastic Performance I. INTRODUCTION Every year, many people die because of earthquakes around the world. Lateral stability has been one of the important problems of steel structures specifically in the regions with high seismic hazard. The Kobe earthquake in Japan and the Northridge earthquake that happened in the USA were two obvious examples where there was lack of lateral stability in steel structures. This issue has been one of the important subjects for researchers during the last three decades. Finally they came up with suggesting concentric, such as X, Diagonal and chevron, eccentric and knee bracing systems and these were used in real life projects by civil engineers for several decades.One of the principal factors affecting the selection of bracing systems is inelastic performance. The bracing system which has a more plastic deformation capacity prior to collapse, has the ability to absorb more energy while it is under seismic excitation. Eccentrically braced frames (EBF’s) are a lateral load-resisting system for steel building that can be considered a hybrid between conventional moment-resisting frames (MRF’s) and concentrically braced frames (CBF’s). EBFs are in effect an attempt to combine individual advantages of MRFs and CBFs, while minimizing their respective disadvantages. Figure 1 illustrates several common EBF arrangements. International Journal of Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology (IJLTET) Vol. 4 Issue 1 May 2014 273 ISSN: 2278-621X