【正文】 the stiffening effect will disappear once the encasing member is damaged. Inversely, if the strength of it is high while the stiffness is low, it cannot restrain the buckling deformation of the braces. Thus, the stiffness and strength of encasing member should be considered as one pair simultaneously.5. Applications of BRBsInitial research on BRB by Wakabayashi et al. was originally for a real building. This research was suspended and thereafter, many other researchers focused on BRB and its practical applications. BRBs encased by reinforced concrete panels were employed in many hotels in Japan, such as the 26story Raguza Tower Osaka. One of the most widely used BRBs is the type shown in Fig. 7(a), which is employed not only in Japan, on projects such as the Project of Harumi 1 Chome and the Passage Garden in Shibuya, Tokyo, but also in the US and Taiwan. In order to upgrade the building’s seismic resistance, unbonded braces were installed through out the entire Taipei County Administration Building (TCAB). Several new design and retrofit projects in Taiwan have selected the doubleTee doubletube BRBs to improve the buildings’ seismic performances [37]. To intentionally make the BRB’s yield strength low to enhance energy dissipation, lowyield steels are employed in most of the cases in BRBs.6. Conclusions and prospectsThis paper presents a summary of buckling restrained braces (BRBs). It introduces the research and development of various types of BRB with different configurations and BRB frames. Theories and experiments for the conditions to prevent steel brace from buckling are also illustrated. BRB shows the same loaddeformation behavior in both pression and tension and higher energy absorption capacity with good adjustability of stiffness and strength. Design of encasing member of BRBs should consider stiffness and strength requirements simultaneously. Because of its good seismic behavior, construction feasibility, and easyreplacement, BRBs bee popular in highrise steel buildings in Asia, especially in Japan in the past few years. Applications for both new highrise steel buildings and the seismic retrofitting of existing buildings show good prospects of using BRBsAcknowledgements The author would like to show his great thanks to Nakashima, Disaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for their supporting the author’s study in Japan. Prof. Robert Tremblay of Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal, Canada, should also be greatly appreciated for his precious advice on this subject during his stay in Japan as a JSPS visiting scientist.Also, thanks should be given to Prof. KehChyuan Tsai of National Taiwan University for his generous provision of research reports from NCRRE.附錄2 英文文章翻譯（譯文）防屈曲支撐在亞洲的地位謝強結(jié)構(gòu)工程專業(yè)，同濟大學(xué)，2004年9月收稿，2004年11月發(fā)表摘要：本文簡要的介紹了防屈曲支撐，防屈曲支撐在拉伸、壓縮作用下顯示了相同的變形能力，而且能通過簡單的調(diào)整強度和剛度來更好的吸收能量。 3. Bucklingrestraining unit (encasing member), whose function is to prevent the brace from buckling。 Cyclic loading test。 accepted 19 November 2004Abstract：This paper presents a summary of bucklingrestrained braces (BRBs). BRBs show the same loaddeformation behavior in both pression and tension and higher energy absorption capacity with easy adjustability of both stiffness and strength. Research and developments of various types of BRBswith different configurations in Asia, especially in Japan, are introduced. Analyses and experiments are illustrated to show the conditions necessary for restraining steel brac