Assessing a Retrofitting Method for Existing RC Buildings with Low Seismic Capacity in Turkey

Abstract

AbstractIn this research, external retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, especially the ones located in Turkey, was studied. Most of Turkey’s population live in an active seismic zone where frequent earthquakes are experienced. Turkey’s existing residential building stock consists mainly of reinforced concrete buildings that are prone to earthquake damage because of a lack of lateral strength. Therefore, a fast and feasible shear retrofit method for these buildings is crucial. In this study, three six-story prototype RC buildings were created to study the effectiveness of external shear retrofit with and without the inclusion of window openings, constructed at building corners. As always desired, this retrofit method was shown to be fast to apply and its construction requires minor damage on the building. The three-dimensional (3D) finite-element model of the building was analyzed nonlinearly by a commercially available software package. The modeling of concrete material as well as embedded stee...