The engineer can assign vertical braces to be considered as buckling restrained braces by selecting the Assign – Brace – Buckling Restrained command. When braces are assigned as buckling restrained an additional axial stiffness multiplier is assigned to the member. This factor is multiplied by the brace axial stiffness for consideration in the analysis. The factor allows the engineer to adjust the stiffness for material other than steel being used in the core, and for the fact that the steel core brace that is modeled, does not extend for the entire length of the brace (Ref. 1).

Buckling restrained braces, and the assigned stiffness multiplier can be shown on screen through the View-Members Command by selecting the Label – Buckling Restrained option in the Brace tab.

See the technical section "Internal Releases" and program help for more guidance on calculating the buckling restrained brace stiffness multiplier.