Performance evaluation of retrofitting strategies for non-seismically designed RC buildings using steel braces

Recent major earthquakes around the world have evidenced that research in earthquake engineering must be directed to the vulnerability assessment of existing constructions lacking appropriate seismic resisting characteristics. Their retrofit or replacement should be made in order to reduce vulnerability, and consequent risk, to currently accepted levels. In this work, the efficiency of ductile steel eccentrically-braced systems in the seismic retrofitting of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings is studied. The retrofit technique studied consists in a bracing system with an energy dissipation device, designed to dissipate energy by shear deformation. The numerical model was calibrated with cyclic test results on a full-scale structure. The models used for the RC frame and masonry represent their real behavior and influence in the global structural response. The steel bracing system was modeled with strut rigid elements. The model for the energy dissipater device reproduces rigorously the behavior of the shear-link observed in the cyclic tests, namely in terms of shear, drift and energy dissipation. With the calibrated numerical model, a series of non-linear dynamic analyses were performed, for different earthquake input motions, intending to study: the influence of the retrofitting system in the response of bare and infilled structures; the influence of the location and strength of the retrofitting system.