A Thought Generated from the Recent Wenchuan Earthquake in China - Proposing a Low Cost, Total Collapse Reduction Design for Old Reinforced Concrete, Low-Rise Buildings That are Not Required by Law for Retrofitting

Abstract eng:
The recent May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, China had toppled a number of lowrise concrete structures. Most were general residential buildings; however, some were school facilities. Death tolls are tragically high. It is learned that majority of these buildings were older concrete structures. Older concrete construction has been known for its lacking ductility and prone for sudden failure or total collapse. Older concrete building is difficult and very expensive to be upgraded to the desired level of seismic capacity prescribed by the modern concrete building codes. Unfortunately, most home owners would opt not to retrofit unless it is specifically dictated by the governing laws or codes. This paper focuses on two areas: 1) Reviewing one of the best known fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) practice used for retrofitting old reinforced concrete (ORC) and un-reinforced masonry (URM) buildings in USA. 2) Proposing a new concept, utilizing FRP material, for strengthening the ORC or URM buildings. The new strengthening strategy, however, is focused specifically on reduction of death tolls/injuries caused by the collapse of the earthquake stricken ORC/URM buildings. An exemplary five-story low-rise ORC/URM building is conceptually developed for the purpose of illustrating the new concept on strengthening such old buildings.

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