• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.29-48
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• 2015

The main purpose of this work is to compare different criteria for the seismic strengthening of RC framed buildings in order to find the optimal combinations of these retrofitting techniques. To this end, a numerical investigation is carried out with reference to the town hall of Spilinga (Italy), an RC framed structure with an L-shaped plan built at the beginning of the 1960s. Five structures are considered, derived from the first by incorporating: carbon fibre reinforced polymer (FRP)-wrapping of all columns; base-isolation, with high-damping-laminated-rubber bearings (HDLRBs); added damping, with hysteretic damped braces (HYDBs); FRP-wrapping of the first storey columns combined with base-isolation or added damping. A three-dimensional fibre model of the primary and retrofitted structures is considered; bilinear and trilinear laws idealize, respectively, the behaviour of the HYDB, providing that the buckling be prevented, and the FRP-wrapping, without resistance in compression, while the response of the HDLRB is simulated by using a viscoelastic linear model. The effectiveness of the retrofitting solutions is tested with nonlinear dynamic analyses based on biaxial accelerograms, whose response spectra match those in the Italian seismic code.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.689-698
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• 2018

This study focuses on a novel procedure for the robustness assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) framed structures under threat-independent damage scenarios. The procedure is derived from coupled dynamic and non-linear static analyses. Two robustness indicators are defined and the method is applied to two RC frame buildings. The first building was designed for gravity load and earthquake resistance in accordance with Eurocode 8. The second was designed according to the tie force (TF) method, one of the design quantitative procedures for enhancing resistance to progressive collapse. In addition, in order to demonstrate the suitability and applicability of the TF method, the structural robustness and resistance to progressive collapse of the two designs is compared.

• 한국공간정보시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.89-95
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• 2004

The measured damping ratio was analysed to obtain amplitude dependence. Wind-induced vibration of 20 story steel-framed building was measured to investigate amplitude dependence by RD method. Micro-tremo vibrations of 20 RC bearing wall typed buildings were performed to analysis the amplitude dependence by formula proposed by Tamua and ESDU. Amplitude dependent damping in 17 story steel-framed building was showed clearly in the increasing rate of 9%. But Amplitude dependent damping of 17 RC bearing wall typed buildings was very low in the increasing rate of 2.5%. The tendency of dynamic properties of building obtained here are useful for the validation of dynamic properties of buildings in the evaluation of serviceability.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.439-459
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• 2013

Main objective of the present study is to determine the statistical properties and suitable probability distribution functions of spectral displacements from nonlinear static and nonlinear dynamic analysis within the frame work of Monte Carlo simulation for typical low rise and high rise RC framed buildings located in zone III and zone V and designed as per Indian seismic codes. Probabilistic analysis of spectral displacement is useful for strength assessment and loss estimation. To the author's knowledge, no study is reported in literature on comparison of spectral displacement including the uncertainties in capacity and demand in Indian context. In the present study, uncertainties in capacity of the building is modeled by choosing cross sectional dimensions of beams and columns, density and compressive strength of concrete, yield strength and elastic modulus of steel and, live load as random variables. Uncertainty in demand is modeled by choosing peak ground acceleration (PGA) as a random variable. Nonlinear static analysis (NSA) and nonlinear dynamic analysis (NDA) are carried out for typical low rise and high rise reinforced concrete framed buildings using IDARC 2D computer program with the random sample input parameters. Statistical properties are obtained for spectral displacements corresponding to performance point from NSA and maximum absolute roof displacement from NDA and suitable probability distribution functions viz., normal, Weibull, lognormal are examined for goodness-of-fit. From the hypothesis test for goodness-of-fit, lognormal function is found to be suitable to represent the statistical variation of spectral displacement obtained from NSA and NDA.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2021

In this study, in order to improve the seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) framed structures, various external attachment of corner steel frame configurations was considered as a user-friendly retrofitting method. The external steel frame is designed to contribute to the lateral stiffness and load carrying capacity of the existing RC structure. A six-story building was taken into account. Four different external corner steel frame configurations were suggested in order to strengthen the building. The 3D models of the building with suggested retrofitting steel frames were developed within ABAQUS environment using solid finite elements and analyzed under horizontal loadings nonlinearly. Horizontal top displacement vs loading curves were obtained to determine the overall performance of the building. Contributions of steel and RC frames to the carried loads were computed individually. Load/capacity ratios for the ground floor columns were presented. In the study, 3D rendered images of the building with the suggested retrofits are created to better visualize the real effect of the retrofit on the final appearance of the façade of the building. The analysis results have shown that the proposed external steel frame retrofit configurations increased the lateral load carrying capacity and lateral stiffness and can be used to improve the seismic performance of RC framed buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.321-337
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• 2015

Existing building structures can easily present material mechanical properties which can largely vary even within a single structure. The current European Technical Code, Eurocode 8, does not provide specific instructions to account for high variability in mechanical properties. As a consequence of the high strength variability, at the occurrence of seismic events, the structure may evidence unexpected phenomena, like torsional effects, with larger experienced deformations and, in turn, with reduced seismic performance. This work is focused on the reduction in seismic performance due to the concrete strength variability. The analysis has been performed on a case-study, i.e., a 3D RC framed 4 storey building. A Normal distribution, compatible to a large available database, has been taken to represent the concrete strength domain. Different plan layouts, representative of realistic strength distributions, have been considered, and a statistical analysis has been performed on the induced reduction in seismic performance. The obtained results have been compared to the standard analysis as provided by Eurocode 8 for existing buildings. The comparison has shown that the Eurocode 8 provisions are not conservative for existing buildings having a large variability in concrete strength.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.4
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• pp.347-361
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• 2023

This research aims to assess the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) residential buildings when moment-resisting frames (MRFs) are used as the lateral resisting system. This investigation was conducted using MIDAS Gen v.19.0. Buildings with various plan footprints (Square, Rectangular, Circular, Triangular, and Plus-Shaped), and different heights (15 m, 30 m, 45 m, and 60 m) are investigated. The defined load cases, the equivalent static lateral load pattern, and the response spectrum function were defined as stated by the American Standard (ASCE 7-16), the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC97), the Egyptian Code for Loads (ECP-201), and the European Standard (EC8). Extensive comparisons of the results obtained by the different codes (including the story displacement, the story drift, and the base shear) were undertaken; to assess the response of moment-resisting multi-story framed buildings under lateral loads. The results revealed that, for all study cases under consideration, both ECP-201 and EC8 gave smaller base shear, displacement, and drift by one third to one fourth, around one fourth, around one fifth, respectively for both the ELF and RSA methods if compared to ASCE 7-16 and UBC97.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.515-537
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• 2014

Current seismic codes (e.g. the NTC08 Italian code and the EC8 European code) adopt a performance-based approach for both the design of new buildings and the assessment of existing ones. Different limit states are considered by verifying structural members as well as non structural elements and facilities which have generally been neglected in practice. The key role of non structural elements on building performance has been shown by recent earthquakes (e.g. L'Aquila 2009) where, due to the extensive damage suffered by infills, partitions and ceilings, a lot of private and public buildings became unusable with consequent significant socio-economic effects. Furthermore, the collapse of infill panels, particularly in the case of out-of-plane failure, represented a serious source of risk to life safety. This paper puts forward an infill model capable of accounting for the effects arising from prior in-plane damage on the out-of-plane capacity of infill panels. It permits an assessment of the seismic performance of existing RC buildings with reference to both structural and non structural elements, as well as of their mutual interaction. The model is applied to a building type with RC framed structure designed only to vertical loads and representative of typical Italian buildings. The influence of infill on building performance and the role of the out-of-plane response on structural response are also discussed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.379-399
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• 2015

Existing building structures can easily present material mechanical properties which can largely vary even within a single structure. The current European Technical Code, Eurocode 8, does not provide specific instructions to account for high variability in mechanical properties. As a consequence of the high strength variability, at the occurrence of seismic events, the structure may evidence unexpected phenomena, like torsional effects, with larger experienced deformations and, in turn, with reduced seismic performance. This work is focused on the torsional effects related to the irregular stiffness and strength distribution due to the concrete strength variability. The analysis has been performed on a case-study, i.e., a 3D RC framed 4 storey building. A Normal distribution, compatible to a large available database, has been taken to represent the concrete strength domain. Different plan layouts, representative of realistic stiffness distributions, have been considered, and a statistical analysis has been performed on the induced torsional effects. The obtained results have been compared to the standard analysis as provided by Eurocode 8 for existing buildings, showing that the Eurocode 8 provisions, despite not allowing explicitly for material strength variability, are conservative as regards the estimation of structural demand.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.263-270
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• 2017

In this study, two geometrically identical multi-storey steel buildings with different lateral load resisting systems are structurally analyzed under same earthquake conditions and they are compared with respect to their construction costs of their structural systems. One of the systems is a steel structure with eccentrically steel braced frames. The other one is a RC wall-steel frame system, that is a steel framed structure in combination with a reinforced concrete core and shear walls of minimum thickness that the national code allows. As earthquake resisting systems, steel braced frames and reinforced concrete shear walls, for both cases are located on identical places in either building. Floors of both buildings will be of reinforced concrete slabs of same thickness resting on composite beams. The façades are assumed to be covered identically with light-weight aluminum cladding with insulation. Purpose of use for both buildings is an office building of eight stories. When two systems are structurally analyzed by FEM (finite element method) and dimensionally compared, the dual one comes up with almost 34% less cost of construction with respect to their structural systems. This in turn means that, by using a dual system in earthquake zones such as Turkey, for multi-storey steel buildings with RC floors, more economical solutions can be achieved. In addition, slender steel columns and beams will add to that and consequently more space in rooms is achieved.