tension, illustrating the envelope of the hysteresis curves, also referred as a backbone curve. This curve is considered as an important basis of practical design. The beneficial cyclic behavior of the steel material can therefore be extrapolated to an element level and thus to the overall structural level; an extremely dissipative structure can be designed using BRBs. Experimental results prove the ductile, stable and repeatable hysteretic behavior of structures built with BRBs. Depending on the configuration of braces, the building codes in the United States allow the use of a response modification factor up to 8, that is comparable to special moment resisting frames (SMRFs); a higher response modification is associated with greater ductility, and thus enhanced post-yielding performance. Thus, the seismic load applied to the structure is efficiently reduced, which results in smaller cross sections for the beams and columns of the braced frames, smaller demands on the connections and, most importantly, the loads on the foundation are drastically decreased. Connections The purpose of buckling-restrained braces is to dissipate lateral forces from columns and beams. Therefore, the connection of the braces to beams and columns can greatly affect the performance of the brace in the case of a seismic event. Typically, the brace is attached to a gusset plate, which in turn is welded to the beam and/or column that the brace will be attached to. Usually three types of connections are used for BRBs: welded connection – the brace is fully welded to the gusset plate in the field. Although this option requires additional man-hours on-site, it can increase the performance of the brace itself by improving the force transfer mechanism, and potentially lead to smaller braces. bolted connection – the brace is bolted to the gusset plate in the field. pinned connection – the brace and gusset plate are both designed to accept a pin, which connects them to each other and allows for free rotation. This can be beneficial to the design engineer if he or she needs to specify a pinned-type connection. In addition to the connection type, the details of the connection can also affect the transfer of forces into the brace, and thus its ultimate performance. Typically, the brace design firm will specify the proper connection details along with the brace dimensions. Advantages Comparative studies, as well as completed construction projects, confirm the advantages of buckling-restrained braced frame (BRBF) systems. BRBF systems can