Seismic strengthening of RC structures with exterior shear walls

Abstract

Vulnerable buildings and their rehabilitation are important problems for earthquake regions. In recent decades the goal of building rehabilitation and strengthening has gained research attention and numerous techniques have been developed to achieve this. However, most of these strengthening techniques disturb the occupants, who must vacate the building during renovation. In this study, a new strengthening alternative for RC structures, namely exterior shear walls, has been experimentally investigated under reversed cyclic loading. Using the proposed technique, it is possible to strengthen structures without disturbing their users or vacating the building during renovation. In this technique, shear walls are installed in parallel to the building’s exterior sides. It has been observed that the usage of exterior shear walls considerably improve the capacity and sway stiffness of RC structures. The experimental results have also been compared and found to be in agreement with the numerical solutions. Post attached exterior shear walls behaved as a monolithic member of the structure. Design considerations for the exterior shear wall-strengthened buildings have also been discussed in the paper.