earticle

영어

A new seismic retrofit technique by externally attaching steel reinforced concrete frames was developed for strengthening medium-to-low-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Two types of bolting and welding methods for connecting between existing RC frame and external strengthening element were prepared in this study. The connections can be technically and practically selected by construction condition. The retrofit method developed in this research is capable of carrying out the seismic retrofitting construction while residents can live inside structures. The method is one of the strength design approach by retrofit which can easily increase the ultimate lateral-load capacity of RC buildings controlled by shear. The pseudo-dynamic test, designed using an existing school building in Korea, was carried out in order to verify the seismic retrofitting effects and earthquake response behavior of the proposed method in terms of the maximum load carrying capacity and response displacement. Test results revealed that the proposed external strengthening method installed in RC frame enhanced conspicuously the strength and displacement capacities, and the method can resist markedly under the large scaled earthquake intensity level.