• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2015

Many existing reinforced concrete (RC) columns in structures tend to become substandard RC ones due to updated standards or environmental changes. These substandard columns may alter the behaviors of the whole structure and therefore are in urgent need of seismic retrofitting. Owing to their superior advantages, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are widely used to retrofit RC columns. The applications mainly focus on various substandard RC columns, but few deals with substandard columns with deteriorated concrete, especially damaged by earthquake. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the seismic behaviors of CFRP reinforced partially deteriorated RC columns and to evaluate the effect of CFRP sheets on them. Six flexure-dominant columns were tested under a constant axial load and transverse cyclic displacements. It is found that the seismic behaviors of partially deteriorated columns can be recovered by wrapping CFRP sheets on them. Numerical analysis is then conducted using finite element methods and verified with experimental results. The effects of the axial load ratio, the ratio of the thickness of CFRP sheet to the column diameter, and the slenderness ratio on the seismic behaviors of CFRP reinforced RC columns are evaluated. Finally, a method is proposed to determine the required thickness of CFRP sheet.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.283-295
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• 2019

During the seismic performance assessment of existing buildings, staircases are generally not taken into account as structural members but as dead load. Staircases, as secondary structural members, not only serve for connecting successive floors but also provide considerable amount of strength and stiffness to the building which can modify its seismic behaviour considerably. In this parametric study, the influence of staircases on the seismic response of substandard RC frame buildings which differ in number of storey and span, presence of staircase and its position has been examined. Modal Analyses and bi-directional Non-Linear Time History Analyses (NLTHA) were conducted to compare several engineering demand parameters (EDPs) such as inter-storey drift ratio (ISDR), floor accelerations, modal properties, member shear forces and plastic hinge distribution. Additionally, short column effect, variation in shear forces of columns that are attached to the staircase slab, failure and deformation in staircase models have also been investigated. As the staircase was considered in the analytical model, a different damage pattern can be developed especially in the structural components close to staircase.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.3
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• pp.233-244
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• 2018

This study aims at evaluating the performance of repairing technique with CFRPs in recovering cyclic performance of damaged columns in flexure in terms of structural response parameters such as strength, dissipated energy, stiffness degradation. A 2/3 scaled substandard reinforced concrete frame was constructed to represent the substandard RC buildings especially in developing countries. These substandard buildings have several structural deficiencies such as strong beam-weak column phenomenon, improper reinforcement detailing and poor material properties. Flexural plastic hinges occurred at the columns ends after testing the substandard specimen under both constant axial load and reversed cyclic lateral loading. Afterwards, the damaged columns were externally wrapped with CFRP sheets both in transverse and longitudinal directions and then retested under the same loading protocol. In addition, ambient vibration measurements were taken from the undamaged, damaged and the repaired specimens at each structural repair steps to identify the effectiveness of each repairing step by monitoring the change in the natural frequencies of the tested specimen. The ambient vibration test results showed that the applied repairing technique with external CFRP wrapping was proved to recover stiffness of the pre-damaged specimen. Moreover, the lateral load capacity of the pre-damaged substandard RC frame was restored with externally bonded CFRP sheets.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2017

The effectiveness of the repair scheme for the damaged captive-columns with CFRPs (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) was investigated in terms of response quantities such as strength, ductility, dissipated energy and stiffness degradation. Two 1/3 scale, one-story one-bay RC (Reinforced Concrete) frames were designed to represent the substandard RC buildings in Turkish building stock. The first one, which is the reference specimen, is the bare frame without infill wall. Partial infill wall with opening was constructed between the columns of the second frame and this caused captive column defect. Severe damage was observed with the concentration of shear cracks in the second specimen columns. Then, the damaged members were repaired by CFRP wrapping and retested. For the three test series, similar reversed cyclic lateral displacement under combined effect of axial load was applied to the top of the columns. Overall response of the bare frame was dominated by flexural cracks. Brittle type of shear failure in the column top ends was observed in the specimen with partial infill wall. It was observed that former capacity of damaged members of the second frame was recovered by the applied repair scheme. Moreover, ultimate displacement capacity of the damaged frame was improved considerably by CFRP wrapping.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.123-132
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• 2021

Deficient beam-column joints of reinforced concrete (RC) structures designed to older practices and codes often lead to destructive local or global failures. A strengthening technique for these joints based on the use of the new and innovative Carbon-FRP (C-FRP) ropes is presented and investigated. The C-FRP ropes are diagonally placed in superficial notches on the two sides of the joint. Two full scale external substandard joint subassemblages with the same characteristics, one unstrengthened and one strengthened with diagonally applied C-FRP ropes, are constructed and tested in cyclic loading. Special attention has been given to the elaboration of the acquired test measurements. The extracted conclusions are based on the comparative study of the hysteretic responses of the specimens, the observed maximum load envelopes, the comparisons of the joint body shear deformations as measured using diagonally mounted LVTDs, the calculated nominal principal stresses developed in the joint regions, the assessed joint damage as expressed by the damage index by Park and Ang and finally the calculated values of the equivalent damping ratio. From these comparisons it is concluded that application of diagonally mounted C-FRP ropes on the two sides of the joint body of exterior connections is an efficient easy-to-apply technique for the strengthening of substandard RC joints.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.345-367
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• 2015

Past earthquakes have signaled the increased collapse vulnerability of mainshock-damaged bridge piers and urgent need of repair interventions prior to subsequent cascading hazard events, such as aftershocks, triggered by the mainshock (MS). The overarching goal of this study is to quantify the collapse vulnerability of mainshock-damaged substandard RC bridge piers rehabilitated with different repair jackets (FRP, conventional thick steel and hybrid jacket) under aftershock (AS) attacks of various intensities. The efficacy of repair jackets on post-MS resilience of repaired bridges is quantified for a prototype two-span single-column bridge bent with lap-splice deficiency at column-footing interface. Extensive number of incremental dynamic time history analyses on numerical finite element bridge models with deteriorating properties under back-to-back MS-AS sequences were utilized to evaluate the efficacy of different repair jackets on the post-repair behavior of RC bridges subjected to AS attacks. Results indicate the dramatic impact of repair jacket application on post-MS resilience of damaged bridge piers-up to 45.5 % increase of structural collapse capacity-subjected to aftershocks of multiple intensities. Besides, the efficacy of repair jackets is found to be proportionate to the intensity of AS attacks. Moreover, the steel jacket exhibited to be the most vulnerable repair intervention compared to CFRP, irrespective of the seismic sequence (severe MS-severe or moderate AS) or earthquake type (near-fault or far-fault).

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2023

This experimental study investigates the effectiveness of applying carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) jackets for the retrofit of short reinforced concrete (RC) columns with inadequate transverse reinforcement and stirrup spacing to longitudinal rebar diameter equal to 12. RC columns scaled at 1/3, with round and square section, were subjected to axial compression up to failure. A damage scale is introduced for the assessment of the damage severity, which focusses on the extent of buckling of the longitudinal rebars. The damaged specimens were subsequently repaired with unidirectional CFRP jackets without any treatment of the buckled reinforcing bars and were finally re-tested to failure. Test results indicate that CFRP jackets may be effectively applied to rehabilitate RC columns (a) with inadequate transverse reinforcement constructed according to older practices so as to meet modern code requirements, and (b) with moderately buckled bars without the need of previously repairing the reinforcement bars, an application technique which may considerably facilitate the retrofit of earthquake damaged RC columns. Factors for the estimation of the reduced mechanical properties of the repaired specimens compared to the respective values for intact CFRP-jacketed specimens, in relation to the level of damage prior to retrofit, are proposed both for the compressive strength and the average modulus of elasticity. It was determined that the compressive strength of the retrofitted CFRP-jacketed columns is reduced by 90% to 65%, while the average modulus of elasticity is lower by 60% to 25% in respect to similar undamaged columns jacketed with the same layers of CFRP.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.651-665
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• 2022

While the lateral confinement provided by an FRP jacket to a concrete column is passive in nature, confinement is activated when the concrete expands due to additional compression stresses or significant shear deformations. This characteristic of FRP jacketing theoretically leads to similar initial stiffness properties of FRP retrofitted buildings as the buildings without retrofit. In the current study, to validate this theoretical assumption, the initial stiffness characteristics, and thus, the potential seismic demands were investigated through forced vibration tests on two identical full-scale substandard reinforced concrete buildings with or without FRP retrofit. Power spectral density functions obtained using the acceleration response data captured through forced vibration tests were used to estimate the modal characteristics of these buildings. The test results clearly showed that the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the buildings are quite similar. Since the seismic demand is controlled by the fundamental vibration modes, it is confirmed using vibration-based full-scale tests that the seismic demands of RC buildings remain unchanged after CFRP jacketing of columns. Furthermore, the damping characteristics were also found similar for both structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.745-757
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• 2018

The inclusion of a ductile steel bracing as means of repairing an earthquake-damaged bridge bent is evaluated and experimentally assessed for the purposes of restoring the damaged bent's strength and stiffness and further improving the energy dissipation capacity. The study is focused on substandard reinforced concrete multi-column bridge bents constructed in the 1950 to mid-1970 in the United States. These types of bents have numerous deficiencies making them susceptible to seismic damage. Large-scale experiments were used on a two-column reinforced concrete bent to impose considerable damage of the bent through increasing amplitude cyclic deformations. The damaged bent was then repaired by installing a ductile fuse steel brace in the form of a buckling-restrained brace in a diagonal configuration between the columns and using post-tensioned rods to strengthen the cap beam. The brace was secured to the bent using steel gusset plate brackets and post-installed adhesive anchors. The repaired bent was then subjected to increasing amplitude cyclic deformations to reassess the bent performance. A subassemblage test of a nominally identical steel brace was also conducted in an effort to quantify and isolate the ductile fuse behavior. The experimental data from these large-scale experiments were analyzed in terms of the hysteretic response, observed damage, internal member loads, as well as the overall stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics. The results of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of utilizing ductile steel bracing for restoring the bent and preventing further damage to the columns and cap beams while also improving the stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics.