Retrofitting of an RC frame building damaged in “April 2015 Gorkha earthquake” in Kathmandu valley

Abstract

The effect of “April 2015 Gorkha Earthquake” was devastating in terms of loss of life, heritage, buildings and emotions. A residence located at Purano Naikap-13, Kathmandu, built in 2006 was also severely damaged amongst many buildings. The building was a three and half story non-engineered reinforced concrete (RC) building. The main objective of this paper is to show the step-by-step process of retrofitting adopted in this building. After the initial survey and structural analysis in ETABS software, a suitable repairing and restoring of the stability of the structure was done which was followed by an appropriate retrofitting techniques. Concrete jacketing and steel jacketing with epoxy chemical grouts in columns were the two main interventions implemented. Pushover analysis was done to assess performance of the retrofitted building. The building was deemed acceptable; the Life Safety level was not exceeded under design basis earthquakes.