Floor diaphragms may provide an effective solution for reducing the seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings. Unfortunately, diaphragms are usually not present in historical building with wooden floors but often the...Floor diaphragms may provide an effective solution for reducing the seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings. Unfortunately, diaphragms are usually not present in historical building with wooden floors but often they are non present even in old R/C buildings where floors were made without shear reinforcement. A possible strengthening technique could be based on the application of a thin concrete plate reintbrced with a welded mesh. In order to reduce the thickness of the plate, some suitable solutions may be obtained by using Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) since the minimum concrete cover is no longer required because the reinforcement (fibers) is spread all over the concrete matrix. The adoption of FRC floor diaphragms is proposed and discussed in this paper; the early results from a preliminary numerical study are analyzed in order to asses the feasibility of this new strengthening technique and better organize an experimental program that is currently in progress.展开更多
This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of pre-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beam strengthened in shear using applied-epoxy unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer ...This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of pre-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beam strengthened in shear using applied-epoxy unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet. The reasearch included four test rectangular simply supported RC beams in shear capacity. One is the control beam, two RC beams are damaged to a predetermined degree from ultimate shear capacity of the control beam, and the last beam is left without pre-damaged and then strengthened with using externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer to upgrade their shear capacity. We focused on the damage degree to beams during strengthening, therefore, only the beams with sidebonded CFRPs strips and horizontal anchored strips were used. The results show the feasibility of using CFRPs to restore or increase the load-carrying capacity in the shear of damaged RC beams. The failure mode of all the CFRP-strengthened beams is debonding of CFRP vertical strips. Two prediction available models in AC1-440 and fib European code were compared with the experimental results.展开更多
The present work discusses the outcomes of recent experimental tests and numerical simulations carried out on full scale reinforced concrete (RC) non-ductile frames retrofitted with dissipative steel braces, i.e. in...The present work discusses the outcomes of recent experimental tests and numerical simulations carried out on full scale reinforced concrete (RC) non-ductile frames retrofitted with dissipative steel braces, i.e. innovative buckling restrained braces (BRBs). Experimental tests were performed on two sample full scale RC framed buildings designed for gravity loads only. Such frames were subjected to cyclic pushovers to investigate their structural performance under different levels of earthquake loadings. The outcomes of the performed experimental tests demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of utilizing BRBs to retrofit non ductile RC frames. These outcomes were confirmed by refined non linear static and response history analyses carried out on an existing RC school framed building designed without seismic details and retrofitted with BRBs similar to those adopted for the tested full-scale frame. In such sample building the BRBs are placed along the perimeter of the existing frames to minimize the interruption of the functionality of the school and for easy of maintenance in the aftermath of major earthquake ground motions. The seismic performance assessment of the retrofitted structural system is illustrated in a detailed manner. Local and global response quantities are presented. The values of the global overstrength Ω for the case study vary between 2.14 and 2.54 for the retrofitted framed building. The translation ductility μ△-values range between 2.07 and 2.36. The response modification factor (or behaviour factor, namely R- or q-factor) is on average equal to 5.0. Additionally, the estimated maximum axial ductility of the BRBs is about 10. Finally, the cost-effectiveness of the adopted retrofitting scheme is emphasized and further needs for the application of BRBs are highlighted.展开更多
In order to ensure that a structure does not collapse when subjected to the action of strong ground motions, modern codes include prescriptions in order to guarantee the ductile behavior of the elements and of the who...In order to ensure that a structure does not collapse when subjected to the action of strong ground motions, modern codes include prescriptions in order to guarantee the ductile behavior of the elements and of the whole structure. Obviously, it would be of special importance for the designer to know during the design process the extent of damage that the structure will suffer under the seismic action specified by the design spectrum and also the probability of occurrence of different states of behavior. The incremental nonlinear static analysis procedure used in this paper allows formulating a new, simplified, seismic damage index and damage thresholds associated with five limit states. The seismic behavior of a set of regular reinforced concrete buildings designed according to the EC-2/EC-8 prescriptions for a high seismic hazard level is then studied using the proposed damage index and damage states. Fragility curves and damage probability matrices corresponding to the performance point are calculated for the studied buildings. The obtained results show that the collapse damage state is not reached in the buildings designed according to the prescriptions of EC-2/EC-8 and also that the damage does not exceed the irreparable damage limit state.展开更多
The research presented in this paper deals with the seismic protection of existing frame structures by means of passive energy dissipation. An iterative displacement-based procedure, based on capacity spectrum, to des...The research presented in this paper deals with the seismic protection of existing frame structures by means of passive energy dissipation. An iterative displacement-based procedure, based on capacity spectrum, to design dissipative bracings for seismic retrofitting of the frame structures is described, and some applications are discussed. The procedure can be used with any typology of dissipative device and for different performance targets. In this work, the procedure has been applied, with both traditional pushover (load profile proportional to first mode) and multimodal pushover, to an existing RC (reinforced concrete) frame building. In the application, the buckling restrained braces have been used in order to prevent damages to both the structure and non structural elements. The use of multimodal pushover proves to be more effective than pushover based on single mode in case of medium rise RC frame building (higher than 30 m) but, once this building is retrofitted, and therefore regularized, with a bracing system, the difference between using monomodal or multimodal pushover becomes insignificant.展开更多
文摘Floor diaphragms may provide an effective solution for reducing the seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings. Unfortunately, diaphragms are usually not present in historical building with wooden floors but often they are non present even in old R/C buildings where floors were made without shear reinforcement. A possible strengthening technique could be based on the application of a thin concrete plate reintbrced with a welded mesh. In order to reduce the thickness of the plate, some suitable solutions may be obtained by using Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) since the minimum concrete cover is no longer required because the reinforcement (fibers) is spread all over the concrete matrix. The adoption of FRC floor diaphragms is proposed and discussed in this paper; the early results from a preliminary numerical study are analyzed in order to asses the feasibility of this new strengthening technique and better organize an experimental program that is currently in progress.
文摘This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of pre-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beam strengthened in shear using applied-epoxy unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet. The reasearch included four test rectangular simply supported RC beams in shear capacity. One is the control beam, two RC beams are damaged to a predetermined degree from ultimate shear capacity of the control beam, and the last beam is left without pre-damaged and then strengthened with using externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer to upgrade their shear capacity. We focused on the damage degree to beams during strengthening, therefore, only the beams with sidebonded CFRPs strips and horizontal anchored strips were used. The results show the feasibility of using CFRPs to restore or increase the load-carrying capacity in the shear of damaged RC beams. The failure mode of all the CFRP-strengthened beams is debonding of CFRP vertical strips. Two prediction available models in AC1-440 and fib European code were compared with the experimental results.
文摘The present work discusses the outcomes of recent experimental tests and numerical simulations carried out on full scale reinforced concrete (RC) non-ductile frames retrofitted with dissipative steel braces, i.e. innovative buckling restrained braces (BRBs). Experimental tests were performed on two sample full scale RC framed buildings designed for gravity loads only. Such frames were subjected to cyclic pushovers to investigate their structural performance under different levels of earthquake loadings. The outcomes of the performed experimental tests demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of utilizing BRBs to retrofit non ductile RC frames. These outcomes were confirmed by refined non linear static and response history analyses carried out on an existing RC school framed building designed without seismic details and retrofitted with BRBs similar to those adopted for the tested full-scale frame. In such sample building the BRBs are placed along the perimeter of the existing frames to minimize the interruption of the functionality of the school and for easy of maintenance in the aftermath of major earthquake ground motions. The seismic performance assessment of the retrofitted structural system is illustrated in a detailed manner. Local and global response quantities are presented. The values of the global overstrength Ω for the case study vary between 2.14 and 2.54 for the retrofitted framed building. The translation ductility μ△-values range between 2.07 and 2.36. The response modification factor (or behaviour factor, namely R- or q-factor) is on average equal to 5.0. Additionally, the estimated maximum axial ductility of the BRBs is about 10. Finally, the cost-effectiveness of the adopted retrofitting scheme is emphasized and further needs for the application of BRBs are highlighted.
文摘In order to ensure that a structure does not collapse when subjected to the action of strong ground motions, modern codes include prescriptions in order to guarantee the ductile behavior of the elements and of the whole structure. Obviously, it would be of special importance for the designer to know during the design process the extent of damage that the structure will suffer under the seismic action specified by the design spectrum and also the probability of occurrence of different states of behavior. The incremental nonlinear static analysis procedure used in this paper allows formulating a new, simplified, seismic damage index and damage thresholds associated with five limit states. The seismic behavior of a set of regular reinforced concrete buildings designed according to the EC-2/EC-8 prescriptions for a high seismic hazard level is then studied using the proposed damage index and damage states. Fragility curves and damage probability matrices corresponding to the performance point are calculated for the studied buildings. The obtained results show that the collapse damage state is not reached in the buildings designed according to the prescriptions of EC-2/EC-8 and also that the damage does not exceed the irreparable damage limit state.
文摘The research presented in this paper deals with the seismic protection of existing frame structures by means of passive energy dissipation. An iterative displacement-based procedure, based on capacity spectrum, to design dissipative bracings for seismic retrofitting of the frame structures is described, and some applications are discussed. The procedure can be used with any typology of dissipative device and for different performance targets. In this work, the procedure has been applied, with both traditional pushover (load profile proportional to first mode) and multimodal pushover, to an existing RC (reinforced concrete) frame building. In the application, the buckling restrained braces have been used in order to prevent damages to both the structure and non structural elements. The use of multimodal pushover proves to be more effective than pushover based on single mode in case of medium rise RC frame building (higher than 30 m) but, once this building is retrofitted, and therefore regularized, with a bracing system, the difference between using monomodal or multimodal pushover becomes insignificant.