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Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings

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A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 22017

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kappos

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Guest Editor

Dept of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Interests: analysis and design of reinforced concrete (R/C) structures (buildings, bridges, etc.); experimental study of R/C members; repair and strengthening of R/C members; vulnerability and risk assessment of structures; analysis and design of load-bearing masonry and masonry infills; seismic isolation and damping systems

Dr. Leonidas Alexandros S. Kouris

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratory of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: civil engineering; masonry structures; retrofitting of structures; assessment of structures; vulnerability of structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The issue of retrofitting the existing building stock is of great importance and priority. Collapse or severe damage of existing buildings during recent strong or even moderate earthquakes have resulted in dramatic human and direct and indirect economic losses. Other natural disasters such as landslides, winds, floods, tsunamis etc., or even manmade (such as explosions) also threaten the structural integrity. Moreover, old buildings have a substantial share of energy consumption and CO₂emissions globally.

To upgrade the capacity of buildings a systematic effort is needed: advanced simulations to assess the capacity of the buildings, accurate vulnerability models to estimate possible losses and prioritise the most critical structures and efficient retrofit techniques to enhance their resistance to natural and anthropogenic disasters.

We believe that an exchange of ideas and approaches addressing these aspects will be valuable for the global effort for more resilient societies. Therefore, this special issue welcomes research on the assessment and retrofit of existing buildings made either of reinforced concrete or masonry or timber or steel, not adhering to the modern code provisions. The special issue more specifically covers the topics of:

modelling and simulation e.g. results from experimental studies and/or numerical analyses assessing the structural capacity before or after retrofitting.
vulnerability and fragility analysis of existing buildings, and loss analysis of building stocks against various hazards.
retrofit techniques to enhance the structural and/or the thermal capacity of existing buildings.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kappos
Dr. Leonidas Alexandros S. Kouris
Guest Editors

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Keywords

numerical modelling
experimental testing
vulnerability and fragility curves
loss analysis
retrofit

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 16721 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact Performance of RC Beams Reinforced by Engineered Cementitious Composite

by Jiehao Wu

Buildings 2023, 13(7), 1688; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13071688 - 30 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1472

Abstract

To mitigate potential damage to RC structures subjected to impact load—especially spalling damage—engineered cementitious composite (ECC) is applied, with the aim of reinforcing the RC members, so as to improve their impact performance. In the present study, the response of beams, with and without ECC reinforcement, to impact loading was investigated. Firstly, the mechanical properties of the ECC were characterized by quasi-static compression and tension tests, as well as by dynamic direct tension tests. Then, the K&C model (Karagozian and Case Concrete Model) was employed to delineate the ECC behavior, whose parameters were calibrated using the test data. Subsequently, models of RC beams with and without ECC reinforcement, validated using the drop weight test, were established to investigate the impact response. The numerical results suggested that the performance of the impact resistance of the ECC-reinforced RC beams was significantly improved. The damage degree of the ECC-reinforced members was effectively reduced, the degree of deformation was effectively controlled, and the energy consumption capacity was significantly increased while the impact load and transferred load increased. In particular, the method of multiple separate layers as reinforcement, proposed in this study, was found to reduce effectively the response and damage extent, improve the energy dissipation, and control the impact load and transferred load within certain levels. In addition, the multiple separate ECC layers effectively prevented the crack propagation caused by the cracking of the member, ensured the residual integrity of the member, and further improved the performance of the impact resistance of the member comprehensively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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20 pages, 1497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determining the Essential Criteria for Choosing Appropriate Methods for Maintenance and Repair of Iraqi Healthcare Building Facilities

by Daniel W. M. Chan, Dher Abdulhadi Sadeq, Hadi Sarvari, David J. Edwards, Alireza Parsaei and Amirhossien Javaherikhah

Buildings 2023, 13(7), 1629; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13071629 - 27 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1460

Abstract

Today, building maintenance and repair (M&R) is a neglected aspect of the construction business throughout a building’s entire life cycle. Selecting appropriate M&R strategies is crucial, particularly for emerging economies like Iraq with severely constrained resources. This study seeks to identify the primary selection criteria for M&R methods of healthcare building facilities (HBFs) in Iraq. A comprehensive desktop literature analysis was undertaken to extract and determine the essential selection criteria for the most suited M&R approaches to buildings in general. Then, two rounds of the Delphi survey were conducted to consolidate the specific selection criteria to suit the circumstances of Iraq and HBFs. A total of 21 sub-criteria were identified and divided into six main groups. The main criteria and the associated sub-criteria were then analyzed and ranked using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) technique. The ranking of the various main criteria revealed that the “cost” criterion was ranked first in terms of importance, followed by the “human resources” and “quality” criteria. The fourth, fifth, and sixth main criteria are “reliability/flexibility”, “safety/risk/environment”, and “facilities/technology”, respectively. The overall ranking of the sub-criteria placed “optimization and cost reduction” in the first position and “extending the life of the equipment and preserving their initial quality” in the bottom place. It is anticipated that the key findings and effective recommendations of this study will considerably contribute to the improvement of building maintenance and repair management practices in developing nations while enhancing different stakeholders’ understanding of the most important selection criteria for M&R methods, particularly with regard to healthcare building facilities in Iraq. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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19 pages, 7274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shake-Table Testing of a Cross Vault

by Elizabeth Vintzileou, Charalambos Mouzakis, Lucia Karapitta and Androniki Miltiadou-Fezans

Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1984; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111984 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1424

Abstract

Domes, vaults and arches are structural components of high vulnerability, due to the horizontal component of the thrust they impose to the supporting vertical elements (piers or walls), accentuated by the asymmetry of loading due to seismic actions. In order to explore the possibilities of reducing this vulnerability, a cross vault made of brickwork and supported by two stone masonry walls was tested on the earthquake simulator. A series of seismic tests was performed to the specimen at its as-built state, as well as after strengthening using techniques adequate for monuments, namely, grouting of piers, arrangement of struts/ties at the base of the cross vault and vertical prestressing of the masonry piers. The tests have confirmed the vulnerability of the original specimen, as well as the improvement of its behavior after strengthening, in terms of sustained maximum base acceleration, deformations and observed damage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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33 pages, 9730 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Investigation on the Cyclic In-Plane Behavior of GFRP-Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls

by Hany El-Kady, Osama Amer, Ahmed H. Ali and Hesham Haggag

Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1948; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111948 - 10 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2963

Abstract

The current study presents an experimental investigation performed on slender reinforced concrete shear walls, representing a common lateral-load resisting system of mid-rise buildings. The walls were reinforced with steel and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars and tested up to failure under reversed quasi-static cyclic loading to investigate the capability of GFRP bars in reinforcing RC shear walls under seismic loads. Moreover, the effect of the GFRP reinforcement ratio on the structural response, deformation performance, and failure mode resulting in RC walls, compared with its behavior when reinforced with steel bars, is also investigated. Six full-scale shear walls with an aspect ratio of 3.25 were constructed. The reference wall was entirely reinforced with steel bars. Two specimens were reinforced by hybrid scheme of GFRP–steel bars. The remaining three shear walls were entirely reinforced with GFRP bars. The overall performance of each wall was characterized by investigating the lateral load capacity, hysteretic response, cracks propagation, ductility, and the behavior of energy dissipation. The experimental results showed that GFRP-reinforced concrete walls had an elastic behavior characterized by a stable hysteretic response with recoverable deformation of more than 80% of the ultimate load. However, sudden and brittle failure was attained for the wall with a high GFRP reinforcement ratio. GFRP decreases the displacement ductility of the shear walls by an average of 32.9%, depending on the reinforcement ratio, compared to that reinforced by steel bars. Moreover, lower energy dissipation through inelastic deformation was obtained for the walls reinforced with GFRP bars. Nonetheless, when GFRP bars are combined with steel bars, acceptable levels of dissipated energy are attained compared to the steel-reinforced wall. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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21 pages, 15418 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Seismic Energy Upgrading of an Existing Brick Masonry Building by a Cold-Formed Steel Envelope System

by Antonio Davino, Giovanna Longobardi, Emilia Meglio, Andrea Dallari and Antonio Formisano

Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1918; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111918 - 7 Nov 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1600

Abstract

In recent years, new solutions have been studied in order to intervene on existing buildings made of load-bearing masonry or reinforced concrete, both from the seismic point of view and the energy one. In recent years, novel modern techniques using lightweight steel profiles made of steel or aluminium alloys, suitably coupled with heat-insulating panels, have been proposed for requalification of existing building stock. In this paper, the Resisto 5.9 system designed by the Progetto Sisma S.r.l. company was studied and applied as a retrofit system of an existing masonry building. First, this new system for seismic energy requalification of the build-up was presented, describing the basic components and the mounting phases. Subsequently, it has applied to a case study building made of full-brick masonry located in the municipality of Casalecchio di Reno, on the outskirts of Bologna in Northern Italy. Finally, the used coating system was designed for the examined building together with other seismic interventions applied to horizontal structures and foundations. The seismic benefits deriving from using the proposed envelope system and other seismic interventions were proved from the seismic viewpoint by linear dynamic and non-linear static analyses using the TreMuri analysis software. From modal analysis it was seen that the dynamic behaviour of the building with Resisto 5.9 is improved, with an increase of the participating mass (68% instead of 49% of the bare building) of the second mode in the longitudinal direction. Moreover, from pushover analysis it was noticed that the seismic safety factor has passed from 0.51 to 1.05 in the X-direction and from 0.78 to 1.27 in the Y-direction. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that Resisto 5.9, together with all the other planned interventions, is able to accomplish the seismic retrofitting of the studied building. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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16 pages, 4059 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of a Full-Scale Unreinforced Stone Masonry Building Tested on a Shaking Table by Inverse Engineering

by Leonidas Alexandros S. Kouris, Andrea Penna and Guido Magenes

Buildings 2022, 12(8), 1235; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12081235 - 13 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2161

Abstract

The material deterioration of an unreinforced stone masonry (URSM) building, due to subsequent dynamic loadings of increasing intensity on a shaking table, is investigated by means of inverse engineering, i.e. calibrating a finite element (FE) model to the experimental response data. The mechanical properties of the structure were initially estimated by preliminary characterisation tests. A two-storey full scale URSM building was tested on a shaking table using a sequential testing procedure of stationary and strong motion vibrations. The building was submitted to five uniaxial time-histories with gradually increasing intensity on a shaking table at the EUCENTRE laboratory (Pavia, Italy) up to a near collapse damage state, each one followed by a stationary vibration test. A frequency domain calibration was carried out to extract the mechanical properties of the equivalent elastic model. To this end, the stationary measurements were used to build up the state-space model. On the other hand, a recognition model was employed using the finite element method (FEM), whose stiffness and mass matrices were used to derive the corresponding analytical state-space model, which was compared to the experimental one. The calibration of the model against the experimental dynamic results includes increased complexity and high computational effort. Through an iterative optimisation trial and error procedure, the mechanical properties of masonry and the shear modulus of the flexible diaphragm of the structure for each test phase were derived. It is shown that the deterioration is more intense for the shear modulus of the walls compared to their elastic modulus. The ratio of the in-plane shear to the elastic modulus decreases substantially. The deterioration of the shear modulus of the timber floors is comparable with those of masonry walls. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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29 pages, 9636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Detailed Structural Characterization of Existing RC Buildings for Seismic Exposure Modelling of the Lisbon Area

by Válter Xavier, Rita Couto, Ricardo Monteiro, José Miguel Castro and Rita Bento

Buildings 2022, 12(5), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12050642 - 11 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3040

Abstract

As many European countries, the Portuguese territory is a region of moderate seismicity, and a large part of its building stock includes reinforced concrete (RC) buildings built before the introduction of modern seismic codes (<1983s). Currently, the Lisbon building stock is composed of 45% of RC buildings, of which 71% were built in such a construction period. Being designed to only sustain gravitational loads and without adequate lateral load resistance, these buildings are likely to be severely damaged during an earthquake. This highlights the need to propose reliable seismic risk assessment and earthquake loss models for such structures. In this context, the development of an exposure model which quantifies the building stock susceptible to be seismically damaged, in terms of structural characteristics, spatial location, and occupancy, is of major importance. The main purpose of this paper is to contribute the definition of a building exposure model for the city of Lisbon, focusing on a detailed structural characterization of these typologies. It starts with an extensive collection and analysis of design blueprints of existing buildings in two Lisbon’s neighborhoods: Alvalade and Benfica, which were found to be representative of the RC building stock in the city. Then, the information collected is scrutinized and statistically post-processed through probability distributions that provide a clear insight on the RC typologies and their structural characteristics. These results can be used in the future for the development of a numerical models and to derive fragility and vulnerability models, fundamental to conducting seismic risk analyses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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14 pages, 3848 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Background to the Monolithicity Factors for the Assessment of Jacketed Reinforced Concrete Columns

by Georgia E. Thermou and Andreas J. Kappos

Buildings 2022, 12(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12010055 - 6 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1930

Abstract

The paper presents the background to the expressions adopted in the new Eurocode 8—3 for jacketed reinforced concrete columns. These are based on the commonly adopted concept of monolithicity factors (ratios of resistance of the jacketed section to that of an identical monolithic one). These factors are derived here in two ways: (i) by fitting experimental results for jacketed columns and (ii) by an extended parametric study of substandard reinforced concrete (R/C) members that were retrofitted by adding R/C jackets, analysed using a model developed by the authors that takes into account slip at the interface. Apart from the cross-section geometry and the thickness of the jacket, parameters of the investigation were the material properties of the core cross-section and the jacket, as well as the percentage of longitudinal reinforcement of the jacket and the percentage of dowels placed to connect the existing member to the jacket. It was found that the parameter that had the most visible effect on these factors was the normalised axial load (

ν

). The finally adopted factors are either simple functions of

ν

or constant values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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28 pages, 8231 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Flexural and Shear Strengthening of RC T-Beams with FRP and TRM: Experimental Study and Parametric Finite Element Analyses

by Daniel A. Pohoryles, Jose Melo and Tiziana Rossetto

Buildings 2021, 11(11), 520; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11110520 - 6 Nov 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3088

Abstract

Due to inadequacies of reinforcement design in older structures and changes in building codes, but also the change of building use in existing structures, reinforced concrete (RC) beams often require upgrading during building renovation. The combined shear and flexural strengthening with composite materials, fibre-reinforced polymer sheets (FRP) and textile reinforced mortars (TRM), is assessed in this study. An experimental campaign on twelve half-scale retrofitted RC beams is presented, looking at various parameters of interest, including the effect of the steel reinforcement ratio on the retrofit effectiveness, the amount of composite material used for strengthening and the effect of the shear span, as well as the difference in effectiveness of FRP and TRM in strengthening RC beams. Significant effects on the shear capacity of composite retrofitted beams are observed for all studied parameters. The experimental study is used as a basis for developing a detailed finite element (FE) model for RC beams strengthened with FRP. The results of the FE model are compared to the experimental results and used to design a parametric study to further study the effect of the investigated parameters on the retrofit effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Retrofit of Buildings)

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