Mid-rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Research Articles

Investigation of the Causes of Soft-Storey and Weak-Storey Formations in Low- and Mid-Rise RC Buildings in Türkiye

This study investigates the causes of soft-storey and weak-storey formations in low- and mid-rise RC (Reinforced Concrete) buildings in Türkiye. In the first phase of the study, 96 model buildings were designated for the examination of soft-storey irregularity when the ground floors are used for commercial purposes and the upper floors for residential use. The ground floor heights that would cause soft-storey irregularity in each of the selected buildings were determined according to the formulas given in the Türkiye Building Earthquake Code (TBEC) and the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard (ASCE). It was found that the ground floor heights obtained according to ASCE are usable in practice, whereas those obtained according to the TBEC, particularly for buildings over three storeys, are excessively high for practical use. This indicates that, even if the buildings in Türkiye are designed with very high ground floor heights, they do not have soft-storey irregularities, according to the TBEC, but soft-storey formation may occur in these buildings due to the high ground floor height as a result of the effects of earthquakes. Instead of the soft-storey irregularity coefficient limit value (nki > 2) found in the TBEC, this study proposes a new limit value to prevent the design of buildings with very high ground floors. In the second phase of the study, for the purpose of examining weak-storey irregularity, 105 model buildings differing in their infill wall layout, number of spans, span length, and number of storeys were selected. The weak-storey irregularity coefficients of each of these models were determined according to the TBEC. The results of the study revealed that buildings with no infill walls in one direction or with infill walls in only one of the exterior axes in one direction have a high risk of having weak storeys.

ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ КВАДРАТНОГО АРМИРОВАННОГО ВОЛОКНОМ ЭЛАСТОМЕРНОГО ИЗОЛЯТОРА ДЛЯ ЖЕЛЕЗОБЕТОННОГО ЗДАНИЯ ПРИ ЗЕМЛЯТРЕСЕНИЯХ

Un-bonded fiber reinforced elastomeric isolator (U-FREI) is a relatively new type of multi-layer elastomeric isolator in which fiber layers are used as reinforcement to replace steel sheets in conventional steel reinforced elastomeric isolators. It is installed directly between the substructure and superstructure without any connection at the interfaces. Most of the previous studies on the U-FREIs supported to the base-isolated buildings are masonry or stone structures. In this study, the dynamic responses of a reinforced concrete (RC) building supported on square U-FREIs under the action of recorded real time-history ground motions of earthquakes are investigated by finite element analysis using SAP2000 software. A hypothetical 4-storey reinforced concrete building constructed in Vietnam is selected for the study. Comparison of the dynamic responses of the base-isolated building and corresponding fixed-base building is carried out to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the base-isolated building under earthquakes. Finite element analysis results show that peak values of floor acceleration and inter-storey drifts at different floor levels, and peak value of base shear of the base-isolated building are lower than those of the corresponding fixed-base building. The U-FREIs are found to be very effective in reducing seismic vulnerability of low and mid-rise RC buildings.

Development of Risk-targeted Seismic Hazard Maps for Low-rise and Mid-rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings in the Philippines

The seismic hazard maps of the Philippines provide spectral acceleration mean values that describe the probability of occurrence of area-specific ground motion hazards due to earthquakes in the country. However other countries have progressed from developing hazard maps to risk-targeted maps that include information on the probability of collapse of buildings. This is the research gap that this study aims to bridge and, thus, developed maps of risk-targeted ground motions (RTGM) for the Philippines using the City of Manila as the area of focus. The maps will be created using the procedure suggested in ASCE 7-16 in obtaining the risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake (MCER). The probabilistic MCER will be created using the information obtained from the seismic hazard and the generic fragility curve that will represent the performance of buildings during a maximum considered earthquake (MCE) event. In this study, the seismic hazards were obtained using the same procedure, decision-making, and empirical formula as the one used in developing the Spectral Acceleration Maps of the Philippines (SAM PH). While the generic fragility curve was described by a function with a lognormal standard deviation, β, of 0.7. With a considered risk level of 1% probability of collapse in 50 yr, the developed RTGM maps are presented in this study. In the analysis of results, the probabilistic MCER is lesser than the MCE level spectral accelerations in the majority of the area in Manila due to the influence of the building’s collapse capacity for stiff soil profiles. The opposite can be seen in softer soil profiles. However, the final MCER values are slightly larger than the MCE values due to the application of the directivity factors.

Frequency-domain preliminary assessment of coupled site and SSI effects according to the Algerian seismic provisions

PurposeSeveral studies were made on paired site and soil–structure interaction (SSI) effects, but most of them were site specific. This paper aims to investigate the impact of SSI effects in conjunction with local soil condition effects on the seismic response of typical multistory low- to mid-rise–reinforced concrete (RC) buildings resting on Algerian regulatory design sites through a global explicit transfer function (TF).Design/methodology/approachA preliminary quantification of SSI effects associated with site effects is carried out through a frequency-domain solution based on the concept of rock-to-soil surface displacement TF performed for each design site category. It results from the combination of the TFs of structure, foundation and soil and reflects how seismic waves are amplified due to changes in the geological contrast between the rock and overlying soil deposits. As well, response modification factors, denoting displacement ratios of the building responses within the flexible and site-structure conditions with respect to the fixed-base one, are carried out.FindingsIn the context of Algerian seismic regulation, the study provides a clear vision of how and when site or SSI effects are expected to be influential, as opposed to the fixed-base hypothesis still retained by the current regulation. This helps engineers to be aware of the extent of the expected seismic damage.Research limitations/implicationsThe research applies to low- to mid-rise RC buildings within the Algerian seismic regulation, but it may also be expanded to other examples that fall under other seismic regulations.Practical implicationsThe response modification ratio is a quantitative approach to assessing response fluctuations. It draws attention to how the roof level drift varies depending on the condition. These results can be used as numerical parameters in structural seismic design when the structure is comparable because they provide useful information about how the two phenomena interact with the structure.Originality/valueThe study goes beyond particular situations dealing with site specific and offers effective indicators and quantitative evaluation of combined site and SSI effects according to the current national seismic provisions, where no indication about site or SSI effects exists.

Collapse Assessment of Mid-Rise RC Dual Wall-Frame Buildings Subjected to Subduction Earthquakes

In Chile, office buildings are typically reinforced concrete (RC) structures whose lateral load-resisting system comprises core structural walls and perimeter moment frames (i.e., dual wall-frame system). In the last 20 years, nearly 800 new dual wall-frame buildings have been built in the country and roughly 70% of them have less than ten stories. Although the seismic performance of these structures was deemed satisfactory in previous earthquakes, their actual collapse potential is indeed unknown. In this study, the collapse performance of Chilean code-conforming mid-rise RC buildings is assessed considering different hazard levels (i.e., high and moderate seismic activity) and different soil types (i.e., stiff and moderately stiff). Following the FEMA P-58 methodology, 3D nonlinear models of four representative structural archetypes were subjected to sets of Chilean subduction ground motions. Incremental dynamic analysis was used to develop collapse fragilities. The results indicate that the archetypes comply with the ‘life safety’ risk level defined in ASCE 7, which is consistent with the observed seismic behavior in recent mega-earthquakes in Chile. However, the collapse risk is not uniform. Differences in collapse probabilities are significant, which might indicate that revisions to the current Chilean seismic design code might be necessary.

Seismic performance evaluation of code compliant and non-compliant RC walls

ABSTRACT Pakistan’s unique geographical location has made it seismically vulnerable. Owing to this, recentearthquakes have revealed the susceptibility of the existing reinforced concrete (RC)buildings in Pakistan. This has raised concerns about the structural performanceof RC buildings because mostmid-rise RC buildingsin Pakistan have shear wall lateral force resisting systems. In this study, a survey ofexisting mid-rise RC buildings in Pakistan's capital territory is used todevelop a database of existing RC shear walls. By using this database, this research aims to provide a seismic performance assessment of existing RC shear wallsto determine their deficiencies and provide necessary experimental data for retrofitting. TwoRC shear wall specimens SW1 and SW2, representing the characteristics of existingRC shear walls are testedunder quasi-static loading. The seismic response of the existing RC mid-risewalls isassessed through the mode of failure, hysteretic behavior, energy dissipation,flexure and shear stiffness,and curvaturedistribution.The findings reveal that the existing mid-rise RC walls in the region did notsatisfy the performance criteria recommended by different seismic codes. Hence a comprehensive retrofitting strategy with building codecompliance are prerequisites to avoid infrastructural and economic losses dueto seismic activity.

Analysis of the soil structure-interaction effects on the seismic vulnerability of mid-rise RC buildings in Lisbon

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects are usually omitted in the seismic vulnerability analyses of buildings. However, it has been proved that they might notably affect their seismic performance. In fact, European seismic codes establish that they should be included in the analyses of certain structures: with considerable second order (p-Δ) effects or mid/high-rise buildings. These characteristics are shared by reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Portugal, which represent a considerable amount of its building stock. Moreover, a significant percentage (50%) have been constructed prior to restrictive seismic codes, i.e., without adequate seismic design. To obtain reliable results when including the SSI effects, the state-of-the-art reveals that a proper modelling of soil and foundations should be carried out. Nevertheless, most of the related studies are based on ideal structural and soil configurations. In addition, it has been found that there is a lack of studies and guidance, even in codes, on the quantification of the SSI effects. Therefore, this paper focuses on quantifying the SSI effects in RC buildings seismic vulnerability analyses by means of two approaches: the Beam on Nonlinear Winker method (BNWM) and the direct modelling of soil. The aim is to propose a method to practically include the SSI effects and to thoroughly characterise the soil behaviour. The method has been applied to a case study RC mid-rise building of Lisbon. A clay-type soil commonly found in Lisbon has been characterised, carrying the analyses out under undrained conditions. 3D finite elements procedures have been proposed to reproduce the complex soil nonlinear constitutive law to represent the behaviour of the entire system (soil + foundation + structure) as realistically as possible. The results have been compared in terms of the seismic safety verification and the fragility assessment. The results have shown that the modal behaviour and the deformed shape of the building are the same with and without the SSI. Nonetheless, it has been demonstrated that increasing the soil flexibility leads to higher periods and higher seismic damage. For this case study, the maximum capacity of the models can be reduced by up to 15% if the SSI effects are considered.

Simplified approaches for estimation of required seismic separation distance between adjacent reinforced concrete buildings

This study aims to investigate the determination of seismic separation gap of adjacent low and mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with no structural irregularity using nonlinear time history analysis. The low and mid-rise RC buildings were reflected using 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10-story buildings designed per 2018 Turkish Building Earthquake Code (TBEC-2018). Beam and column elements are modeled as nonlinear frame elements with lumped plasticity by defining plastic hinges at both ends of beams and columns. The adjacent three-dimensional (3D) building models are connected to each other by link elements at the floor levels. 1232 nonlinear dynamic (time history) analyses were performed using 56 different building pairs and 11 different earthquake record pairs (22 records) compatible with TBEC-2018 to obtain the required seismic gap distances. The distances necessary to avoid pounding obtained from the analyses were compared with the minimum seismic gap requirements of the current earthquake codes, provisions (Eurocode-8, ASCE 7-16 and TBEC-2018) and several proposed methods (ABS, SRSS and DDC) in the literature. The outcomes indicate that the ASCE 7-16 and EC-8 significantly overestimate the required seismic gap distances for the buildings with similar dynamic characteristics while they provide reasonable estimates for the buildings with significantly different dynamic characteristics. However, the TBEC-2018 requirements are insufficient for the neighboring building period ratios greater than 1.25. Although both the ASCE 7-16 and EC-8 requirements are acceptable for the design of new buildings as being on safe side, they are not useful for the evaluation of existing buildings. Two different simple approaches were proposed to estimate the required seismic gap distances between neighboring buildings. The first approach requires linear static analysis of the buildings subjected to the reduced seismic design forces while the second simplified approach does not need any analysis. The proposed equations in this study are simple and useful for the evaluation of existing low and mid-rise RC buildings with no structural irregularity. Besides, their estimates are acceptable for the design purposes.

A period-height relationship for newly constructed mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings in Turkey

The fundamental period is an essential parameter in the force-based design of buildings as it defines the spectral acceleration and thus the base shear force to which the building should be designed. The fundamental period can be computed based on modeling or utilizing simplified empirical relationships defined in seismic design codes. Previous studies show that the simplified equations should be region-specific and should represent the general design and the construction characteristics of the region. In this study, ambient vibration measurements were carried out on 24 newly constructed, mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Eskisehir, Turkey. The relationships between the fundamental periods and the building heights were examined. Through regression analysis, a simple equation was derived to estimate the elastic fundamental vibration period of mid-rise RC buildings with respect to building height. The proposed relationship was compared to the equation defined in the new Turkey Building Earthquake Code (TBEC-2018) and with the other simplified equations in different design codes and the related literature. The results showed that the fundamental period estimates of the TBEC-2018 equation are much longer than the fundamental periods of the measured buildings in this study. This overestimation may lead to unconservative base shear forces. Therefore, the proposed equation can be used in the force-based design of mid-rise RC frame buildings for conservative estimates of the fundamental period. The contribution of infill walls to the lateral stiffness of the buildings was also investigated, and some preliminary suggestions are made for the related parts in TBEC-2018.

Seismic risk priorities of site and mid-rise RC buildings in Turkey

Especially, the large-scale loss of life and property caused by the significant earthquakes in recent years has brought the importance of research and measures to be taken on this issue. Determining and analysing the ever-increasing building stock of the cities and detecting and managing all information related to buildings are important in terms of spatial planning and urban transformation. This study aims to determine tectonic characteristics calculating a and b values of Gutenberg- Richter magnitude-frequency relation which forms the basis of earthquake statistics for all cities in Turkey and the reinforced-concrete buildings which are primarily risky in terms of urban transformation. For this purpose, a total of 1620, 5-storey buildings from all provinces of Turkey were assessed. Twenty reinforced concrete buildings from each province were taken into consideration which has 5-stories. The first stage evaluation method specified in the principles regarding the identification of risky buildings issued in 2013 by the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Environment and Urbanization was used in this study. The performance scores for 1620 buildings were calculated by using this method. A risk priority map was created for the provinces, taking into account for these buildings. The study aims to determine risk priorities of site and mid-rise reinforced-concrete buildings among the cities. The results obtained were interpreted and recommendations were made.

Estimation of Seismic Damage Induced by Near- and Far-Fault Earthquakes Using Modified Equivalent Linearization Method of Mid-Rise RC Buildings

For the seismic design of a mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) building considering the damage control, the main purpose of this work is to propose a simplified method that can be used to estimate the damage index or damage state induced by the near-fault and far-fault earthquakes. In addition to the maximum deformation response, the hysteretic energy dissipation induced the earthquakes is also considered in the damage index quantification based on the modified equivalent linearization method (MELM). Based on the damage index model in terms of the maximum deformation response and hysteretic energy dissipation under an earthquake, this work provides a convenient method by which an engineer can determine the damage-controlling minimal ductility requirement to ensure that the damage index remains under a specified value. For a mid-rise RC building structure, an engineer can also apply the simplified formula proposed in this work to obtain the damage-controlling yielding strength for a specified ductility capacity.

Seismic Assessment of Existing Lowrise and Midrise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Using the 2014 Qatar Construction Specification

Seismic Assessment of Existing Lowrise and Midrise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Using the 2014 Qatar Construction Specification

A statistical assessment on global drift ratio demands of mid-rise RC buildings using code-compatible real ground motion records

Over the past 20 years, significant socio-economic losses have been encountered in Turkey due to several moderate to large earthquakes. The studies published after the earthquakes concurringly emphasized that multistory reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, mostly 3–7 story ones, collapsed or were heavily damaged as a result of inadequate seismic performance. Global drift ratio demands are mostly used as a representative quantity for determining the behavior of structures when subjected to earthquakes. In this study, three representative mid-rise RC buildings are analyzed by nonlinear time history analysis using code-compatible real ground motion record sets and the calculated global drift ratio demands of these buildings are statistically evaluated. Ground motion record sets compatible with the design spectrum defined for local soil classes in the Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC-2007) are used for the analyses. In order to evaluate the effect of the number of ground motions on drift ratio demands, five different ground motion record sets with 7, 11 and 15 ground motion records are used separately for each local soil class. Results of this study indicate that (1) the dispersion of global drift ratio demands calculated for individual ground motion records in record sets is high, (2) local soil class has no significant effect on dispersion. However, dispersion increases in a direct proportion to the number of ground motion records in a record set, (3) the mean of global drift ratio demands calculated for different ground motion record sets may differ although they are compatible with the same design spectrum, (4) the mean of the drift demands obtained from different ground motion record sets compatible with a particular design spectrum can be accepted as simply random samples of the same population at 95% confidence level.

İstanbul’un Esenler İlçesinde yer alan Betonarme Yapıların Sismik Hasar Görebilirliğinin Değerlendirilmesi

Istanbul is one of the largest cities of Turkey which is located on the regions where there is high seismic activities. Recent studies performed on mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) structures showed that majority of the existing building stock does not conform to current seismic code requirements and they can be evaluated as vulnerable structures. The seismic performance evaluation of an existing buildings can be conducted by using nonlinear procedures stated in Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC-07). According to the code, an existing building completing its economic lifetime and/or having a performance level in between “Life Safety” to “Collapse Prevention” under the effect of Design Earthquake is defined as “building under seismic risk”. Before going into such a detailed seismic evaluation procedure for each building, there is a need for regional screening surveys to rank the building stock in terms of the potential seismic hazard. This study aims to assess the seismic vulnerability of a group of midrise RC buildings located in Esenler District of Istanbul employing the Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) procedure. In this study, valuable results have been derived to rank the buildings in terms of seismic vulnerability of existing structures located in Istanbul. It is concluded that the number of stories is the key parameter to change the priority range of the building from lowest to highest level. Majority of the buildings with the highest priority level (0≤PS≤30) suffer from the parameters related with poor construction quality, soft story irregularity and the heavy overhang. The aforementioned method could be used to estimate the performance scores of the buildings to determine the priority for more detailed seismic risk assessment procedures.

Seismic Vulnerability of Low- and Mid-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings in Malaysia Designed by Considering Only Gravity Loads

This study focuses on seismic vulnerability assessment of reinforced concrete buildings designed by considering only gravity loads. Fragility curves are developed for a three-story reinforced concrete office frame building and a four-story reinforced concrete school building with unreinforced masonry infill walls representative of the essential facilities in Malaysian Peninsula. A simplified modeling approach is adopted for fragility analysis, which can effectively reduce the computational effort. A set of fragility curves are developed in terms of peak ground acceleration with lognormal cumulative distribution functions. The fragility analysis shows that the seismic performance of the structures met the desirable performance level recommended by current seismic code, demonstrating low vulnerability of the structures within Malaysian Peninsula. It is also shown that the soil condition should be taken into consideration for effective seismic vulnerability assessment. Finally, the fragility curves developed in this study are compared to those of HAZUS.

Effect of Response Reduction Factor on Peak Floor Acceleration Demand in Mid-Rise RC Buildings

Estimation of Peak Floor Acceleration (PFA) demand along the height of a building is crucial for the seismic safety of nonstructural components. The effect of the level of inelasticity, controlled by the response reduction factor (strength ratio), is studied using incremental dynamic analysis. A total of 1120 nonlinear dynamic analyses, using a suite of 30 recorded ground motion time histories, are performed on mid-rise reinforced-concrete (RC) moment-resisting frame buildings covering a wide range in terms of their periods of vibration. The obtained PFA demands are compared with some of the major national seismic design and retrofit codes (IS 1893 draft version, ASCE 41, EN 1998, and NZS 1170.4). It is observed that the PFA demand at the building’s roof level decreases with increasing period of vibration as well as with strength ratio. However, current seismic building codes do not account for these effects thereby producing very conservative estimates of PFA demands. Based on the identified parameters affecting the PFA demand, a model to obtain the PFA distribution along the height of a building is proposed. The proposed model is validated with spectrum-compatible time history analyses of the considered buildings with different strength ratios.

Rapid Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Low- to Mid-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Using Bingöl's Regional Data

A methodology based on multiple linear regression analysis is used for rapid vulnerability assessment of a building set surveyed in the disaster area of the 1 May 2003 Bingöl, Turkey, earthquake. The data set represents the population of low- to mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings in Bingöl. In addition to the relevant statistical procedures for parameter selection, all possible regressions of selected building parameters are carried out, and the most appropriate regression function is determined. Structural system type, newly introduced span index, priority index, existence of captive columns, and soft story index are found to play the dominant role. A leave-one-out cross validation method is utilized to test the reliability of derived regression function. The data collected during 1999 Düzce earthquake is also used for testing. The correct classification rate for both calibration and test data is found to be near 90%, despite an acceptable increase in incorrect classification rate.

Seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings in the 22 February Christchurch (Lyttelton) earthquake

Six months after the 4 September 2010 Mw 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake, a Mw 6.2 Christchurch (Lyttelton) aftershock struck Christchurch on the 22 February 2011. This earthquake was centred approximately 10km south-east of the Christchurch CBD at a shallow depth of 5km, resulting in intense seismic shaking within the Christchurch central business district (CBD). Unlike the 4 Sept earthquake when limited-to-moderate damage was observed in engineered reinforced concrete (RC) buildings [35], in the 22 February event a high number of RC Buildings in the Christchurch CBD (16.2 % out of 833) were severely damaged. There were 182 fatalities, 135 of which were the unfortunate consequences of the complete collapse of two mid-rise RC buildings. This paper describes immediate observations of damage to RC buildings in the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Some preliminary lessons are highlighted and discussed in light of the observed performance of the RC building stock. Damage statistics and typical damage patterns are presented for various configurations and lateral resisting systems. Data was collated predominantly from first-hand post-earthquake reconnaissance observations by the authors, complemented with detailed assessment of the structural drawings of critical buildings and the observed behaviour. Overall, the 22 February 2011 Mw 6.2 Christchurch earthquake was a particularly severe test for both modern seismically-designed and existing non-ductile RC buildings. The sequence of earthquakes since the 4 Sept 2010, particularly the 22 Feb event has confirmed old lessons and brought to life new critical ones, highlighting some urgent action required to remedy structural deficiencies in both existing and “modern” buildings. Given the major social and economic impact of the earthquakes to a country with strong seismic engineering tradition, no doubt some aspects of the seismic design will be improved based on the lessons from Christchurch. The bar needs to and can be raised, starting with a strong endorsement of new damage-resisting, whilst cost-efficient, technologies as well as the strict enforcement, including financial incentives, of active policies for the seismic retrofit of existing buildings at a national scale.

Probabilistic seismic performance assessment of code-compliant multi-story RC buildings

Fragility analyses are conducted in this study to evaluate the relative seismic safety margins of seismic code-designed multi-story reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with varying input motion intensity, ductility level and configuration. Structural variations are accounted for by using twelve buildings [13] with diverse structural systems, heights and ductile detailing. The design peak ground acceleration (PGA) is also varied. The reference structures also include regular and irregular buildings in order to cover a wide spectrum of contemporary mid-rise buildings. Incremental dynamic analyses (IDAs) are deployed using the twelve inelastic fiber-based simulation models of the reference structures and sixty natural ground motions recorded on different soil conditions with a wide range of spectral amplifications. The regression analyses of the selected response quantities show that the soil condition has a marginal effect on the demand-ground motion intensity relationships when adopting spectral acceleration to characterize the ground shaking intensity. The damage state probabilities of wall-frame structures designed to high PGA and ductility levels do not satisfactorily achieve the most favorable safety objectives. Fragilities are reduced by decreasing the design PGA due to the higher contribution of gravity loads to the details of the building design. Using extensive results from twelve buildings subjected to sixty ground motions, a relationship is proposed to enable the quantifying of the Life Safety limit state probabilities of code-compliant mid-rise RC buildings.

Quasi-static and pseudo-dynamic testing of infilled RC frames retrofitted with CFRP material

The intact infill walls in reinforced concrete (RC) frames have beneficial effects to overall behavior in terms of stiffness, strength and energy dissipation in the event of seismic actions. The rationale of this paper is to increase effectiveness of the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)-based retrofitting technique so that intact infill walls of vulnerable mid-rise RC buildings are transformed into a lateral load resisting system. The seismic behaviors of cross-braced and cross diamond-braced retrofitting schemes applied on infilled RC frames have been investigated experimentally. The research consisted of quasi-static (QS) tests where drift-based cyclic loading reversals were used and pseudo-dynamic (PsD) tests where acceleration intensity-based loading was used. Twelve 1/3-scaled RC frames were built and tested as bare and infilled control frames, and as cross-braced and cross diamond-braced retrofitted specimens. Significant findings were noted while comparing the QS and PsD tests. The maximum restoring force and drift couples that were obtained from PsD tests showed a close behavior pattern, regardless of the level of inertial masses, when compared with QS tests. The energy dissipation capacity of the specimens that was obtained from PsD test resulted somewhat less than the one tested with QS for the same level of damage. The performance of the retrofitted frames that was obtained from the experimental study was evaluated with code-specified performance limits. Accordingly, it was concluded that the cross diamond-bracing scheme is an effective retrofitting technique that brings the bare frame from collapse prevention (CP) to life safety (LS) performance levels. Finally, analytical predictions as per FEMA 356 guideline were performed and good agreement was obtained with experimental results.