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The research focuses on the seismic performance of moment resisting reinforced concrete frames, retrofitted using friction-based passive control systems. To conduct the research, five different RC frames with different storeys (3, 5, 10, 15 and 20) were selected and their seismic responses with and without friction panels were investigated using non-linear dynamic analyses performed by DRAIN-2DX software. Selected frames were analyzed under six real and one synthetic spectrum compatible earthquake. The ratios of the inter-storey drift and roof displacement of the controlled system to the corresponding values in the bare frame were calculated for each case. To assess the overall behaviour of the proposed friction panels, two energy dissipation parameters, which are the main indicators of the efficiency of the system, were considered. In this study, five different lateral load patterns, including uniform, cantilever, triangular, inverted triangular, and storey strength proportional distribution were applied to the friction devices. To achieve the optimum design of friction panels, optimum values of slip load ratio (the ratio of the slip load to the storey strength) have been determined. The results indicated that, in general, up to a particular point increasing the slip load improves the behaviour of the controlled system, while further increase may reduce the efficiency of the proposed passive control system. It was shown that uniform and triangular distributions of the slip load were more effective than other distribution patterns in controlling the seismic responses of the selected RC frames. Using friction panels in RC frames has been proved to be an effective solution in terms of reducing the inter-storey drift and roof displacement regardless the size of the frame and seismic excitation characteristics.