Assessment of seismic risk mitigation alternatives for concrete buildings in the UAE

Abstract

Recent records of seismic activities in earthquake-prone areas of the UAE have prompted further studies on the vulnerability of pre-seismic code buildings and their most effective seismic risk mitigation strategies. This study is directed towards seismic risk mitigation techniques for substandard buildings in the UAE, namely reinforced concrete (RC) jacketing of columns using high-performance material and external steel bracing system. This paper briefly discusses the results of a benchmark low-rise gravity load designed structure, exhibiting poor seismic performance. Detailed numerical models of the existing building and the retrofitted structures along with several inelastic analyses were used to assess the seismic performance and limit states exceedance probabilities of the buildings. Based on the probabilistic seismic performance assessment of different seismic retrofit measures, the addition of the external bracing system proves to be the most efficient mitigation intervention for the investigated class of low-rise buildings.