Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Non-Seismic Reinforced Concrete Frames Strengthened with Concentric Steel Braces

Abstract eng:
Many reinforced concrete structures built before 1960’s were designed to resist mainly gravity loads and wind, even if they were located in seismic zones. That is why when subjected to earthquakes of intensities even below the design level, they are at risk because of poor detailing and lack of capacity. Evaluation of such type of structures according to the present seismic design provisions leads, in most cases, to the necessity of strengthening. In the paper, the strengthening of non-seismic reinforced concrete frames with dissipative inverted V bracing systems is presented. Conventional concentric V braces and buckling restrained V braces are used. Portal frames with and without bracings are isolated from a real structure and tested experimentally under monotonic and cyclic loading. The tests aimed to offer information related to the real dissipation capacity of the initial unretrofitted structure and the retrofitted structures, including the effectiveness of connecting details of pre-stressed tendons, specifically designed for connecting braces in an existing frame. Both test results and numerical simulations on portal frames and on strengthened building frames have been used to evaluate the q factors.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket