• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.617-627
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• 2018

After earthquakes FRP sheets are often used for the rehabilitation of damaged Reinforced Concrete (RC) beamcolumn connections. Connections with minor to moderate damage are often dealt with by applying FRP sheets after a superficial repair of the cracks using resin paste or high strength mortar but without infusion of thin resin solution under pressure into the cracking system. This technique is usually adopted in these cases due to the fast and easy-to-apply procedure. The experimental investigation reported herein aims at evaluating the effectiveness of repairing the damaged beam-column connections using FRP sheets after a meticulous but superficial repair of their cracking system using resin paste. The investigation comprises experimental results of 10 full scale beam-column joint specimens; five original joints and the corresponding retrofitted ones. The repair technique has been applied to RC joints with different joint reinforcement arrangements with minor to severe damage brought about by cyclic loading for the purposes of this work. Aiming at quantitative concluding remarks about the effectiveness of the repair technique, data concerning response loads, loading stiffness and energy absorption values have been acquired and commented upon. Furthermore, comparisons of damage index values and values of equivalent viscous damping, as obtained during the test of the original specimens, with the corresponding ones observed in the loading of the repaired ones have also been evaluated and commented. Based on these comparisons, it is deduced that the technique under investigation can be considered to be a rather satisfactory repair technique for joints with minor to moderate damage taking into account the rapid, convenient and easy-to-apply character of its application.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2023

In this study, in order to enhance the joint capacity between the existing reinforced concrete (R/C) frame and the reinforcement member, we proposed a novel concept of Internal Composite Seismic Strengthening Method (CSSM) for seismic retrofit of existing domestic medium-to-low-rise R/C buildings. The Internal CSSM rehabilitation system is a type of strength-enhancing reinforcement systems, to easily increase the ultimate horizontal shear capacity of R/C structures without seismic details in Korea, which show shear collapse mechanism. Two test specimens of full-size two-story R/C frame were fabricated based on an existing domestic R/C building without seismic details, and then retrofitted by using the proposed CSSM seismic system; therefore, one control test specimen and one test specimen reinforced with the CSSM system were used. Pseudo-dynamic testing was carried out to evaluate seismic strengthening effects, and the seismic response characteristics of the proposed system, in terms of the maximum shear force, response story drift, and seismic damage degree compared with the control specimen (R/C bare frame). Experiment results indicated that the proposed CSSM reinforcement system, internally installed to the existing R/C frame, effectively enhanced the horizontal shear force, resulting in reduced story drift of R/C buildings even under a massive earthquake.