Lateral cyclic performance of a CFRP retrofitted two-story RC frame with open ground story

This study presents the cyclic performance of a reinforced concrete (RC) frame retrofitted using carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) jackets. A damaged two-story non-ductile RC frame with the open ground story and the masonry-infilled top story was considered as the test specimen in the experimental investigation. Only shear-damaged ground story columns were retrofitted using CFRP jacketing. The retrofitted frame was subjected to a gradually-increasing reversed cyclic lateral loading to investigate its lateral strength, mode of failure, displacement ductility, and the energy dissipation potential. Test results showed that the retrofitted frame sustained a roof drift of 2.5% without any substantial reduction in the lateral resistance. An analytical investigation was also carried out to predict the lateral strength and displacement ductility of the retrofitted frame using the theoretical models available in the literature. The analytical model predicted the lateral strength of the retrofitted frame to a reasonable accuracy.