Describe the process of retrofitting existing buildings and evaluate the effectiveness of it in improving the seismic performance of structures in earthquake-prone regions

At present, earthquakes are a serious problem for building. Severe damages and collapses of buildings were caused by earthquakes in different degrees.It is reported that there are more than 68,858 deaths and hundreds of billions RMB losses in the May 12, 2008 Great Wenchuan Earthquake(Wang, 2008). So, more attention should be paid to seismic technology. In order to face the challenges of earthquake on building, the seismic retrofitting was put forward, which“is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes”

Download Full-text

The High-Performance Dissipating Frame (HPDF) System for the Seismic Strengthening of RC Existing Buildings

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041864 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1864

Author(s):

Vincenzo Manfredi ◽

Giuseppe Santarsiero ◽

Angelo Masi ◽

Giuseppe Ventura

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Design Procedure ◽

Seismic Retrofitting ◽

Existing Buildings ◽

Sustainable Solutions ◽

Seismic Rehabilitation ◽

Existing Structures ◽

Rc Frames ◽

Frame System ◽

Displacement Based

In Italy as well as in other earthquake-prone countries, the large number of existing buildings requiring seismic retrofitting calls for sustainable solutions able to reduce both costs and downtime. To this purpose, in this paper, the High-Performance Dissipating Frame system (HPDF), a new strengthening solution for the seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings, is presented. HPDF is based on external precast reinforced concrete (RC) frames rigidly connected to the existing structures and equipped with shear damper devices in order to provide high dissipation capacity. The proposed solution permits: (i) to increase sustainability through works made up from the outside without removing/demolishing infills/other non-structural components, (ii) rapid execution by adopting precast resisting members mutually restrained with steel connections, and (iii) effectiveness due to shear damper devices able to dissipate a large amount of shaking energy. In the paper, a displacement-based design procedure is proposed and applied to a numerical example.

Download Full-text

Experimental Study on the Behavior of Existing Reinforced Concrete Multi-Column Piers under Earthquake Loading

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11062652 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 2652

Author(s):

Jung Han Kim ◽

Ick-Hyun Kim ◽

Jin Ho Lee

Keyword(s):

Seismic Performance ◽

Seismic Design ◽

Bridge Piers ◽

Scale Model ◽

Inertia Force ◽

Small Scale ◽

Lap Splice ◽

Existing Structures ◽

Seismic Design Code ◽

Seismic Force

When a seismic force acts on bridges, the pier can be damaged by the horizontal inertia force of the superstructure. To prevent this failure, criteria for seismic reinforcement details have been developed in many design codes. However, in moderate seismicity regions, many existing bridges were constructed without considering seismic detail because the detailed seismic design code was only applied recently. These existing structures should be retrofitted by evaluating their seismic performance. Even if the seismic design criteria are not applied, it cannot be concluded that the structure does not have adequate seismic performance. In particular, the performance of a lap-spliced reinforcement bar at a construction joint applied by past practices cannot be easily evaluated analytically. Therefore, experimental tests on the bridge piers considering a non-seismic detail of existing structures need to be performed to evaluate the seismic performance. For this reason, six small scale specimens according to existing bridge piers were constructed and seismic performances were evaluated experimentally. The three types of reinforcement detail were adjusted, including a lap-splice for construction joints. Quasi-static loading tests were performed for three types of scale model with two-column piers in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. From the test results, the effect on the failure mechanism of the lap-splice and transverse reinforcement ratio were investigated. The difference in failure characteristics according to the loading direction was investigated by the location of plastic hinges. Finally, the seismic capacity related to the displacement ductility factor and the absorbed energy by hysteresis behavior for each test were obtained and discussed.

Download Full-text

Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Structures in Istanbul, Turkey

Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures ◽

10.1061/41084(364)28 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rafael Alaluf ◽

Craig A. Cole

Keyword(s):

Seismic Performance ◽

Existing Structures

Download Full-text

Development of a preliminary seismic risk screening tool for existing buildings in Canada

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1139/cjce-2017-0504 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (9) ◽

pp. 717-727 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Reza Fathi-Fazl ◽

Eric Jacques ◽

Zhen Cai ◽

Bessam Kadhom ◽

Bassem Saassouh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Seismic Performance ◽

Seismic Design ◽

Seismic Risk ◽

Screening Tool ◽

Existing Buildings ◽

Seismic Risk Assessment ◽

Risk Screening ◽

Categorization System ◽

Remaining Time

This paper presents a preliminary seismic risk screening tool to identify buildings whose superior structural and non-structural seismic performance in regions of low seismicity can be assessed based on several key attributes. The tool is designed to exempt buildings from detailed seismic risk assessment if key exemption criteria are met. The exemption criteria are based on: a seismic categorization system linked to anticipated building damage and seismicity; whether or not the building was designed using modern seismic design provisions; and the remaining time that the building will be occupied. The tool also provides a second list of criteria, which if satisfied, will automatically trigger further detailed seismic risk assessment. The decisions rendered by the tool regarding the expected seismic performance of a building are evaluated against the next level of seismic risk screening tool to ensure the consistency. A flowchart is presented to facilitate adoption of the tool by practicing engineers and other end-users.

Download Full-text