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Abstract: - The main aim of the study is to evaluate the performance of a gravity load designed reinforced concrete
frame retrofitted with buckling restrained bracing (BRB) systems as a dissipative and retrofitting device. The BRB
system wish to be applied for reinforced concrete frames located in seismic areas which have been designed previous to
the appearance of a seismic code. This analysis represents the main topic of STEELRETRO project “Steel Solutions for
Seismic Retrofit and Upgrade of Existing Constructions” of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) [13]. In
order to analyze and confirm BRB system effectiveness as a strengthening solution for poor seismic resistant RC
Frames, a benchmark building was proposed for modeling.
Key-Words: reinforced concrete frame, moment resisting frame, retrofitting, buckling restrained braces (BRB),
dissipative device, nonlinear pushover analysis, target displacement.
The heights of the stories are 3.9 m at the ground In the first step, the existing RC building was verified for
floor, 3.4 m at the first level, 3.35 m at second level and ULS (dead, imposed, snow and wind loads) and seismic
0.9 respectively 1.8 for the rafters eave. load in accordance with [4], [5], [6] and [7] [13].
To compute self weight of the elements, a 25 KN/m3
was chose as reinforced concrete specific weight, and it
was applied as a uniform distributed load on the element.
Dead load (DL) was distributed only on the beams
which are perpendicular in the direction of the ribs (from
the floor, see Fig. 4).
structure a seismic reduction factor q=1.5 was used and reinforcement. According to [6] and corresponding to
for retrofitted reinforced concrete structure (with BRB) this type of concrete a young modulus of 29000 MPa
q=6 (see Fig. 6). was used.
7
TB TC Reinforcement was modeled as modified Park
nonlinear using a yield strain of 0.015 and an ultimate
6
q=1.5 strain from 0.2 to 0.3 corresponding to yield strength of
5
230 MPa and an ultimate strength of 350 MPa (see Fig.
Se(T), Sd(T)
3 RC Building modeling
3.1 Materials
Concrete material was modeled as nonlinear based on
Kent and Park model (see Fig. 7.a) with no tension [11].
The concrete was considered as unconfined due to [9] Fig. 9. Element splitting and plastic hinges location on rc
according to, if the hoops are spaced at a distance > d/3 elements in X direction and Y directions Fig.12
the component is unconfined, where d - distance from
extreme compression fiber to center of tension
Plastic hinges were define as load – deformation Also, due to existing floor/roofing system the
relationship following [2]/[9] model as a deformation effective width of beams was not considered.
controlled (ductile) typology (see Fig.10).
4 BRB system
The BRB system, was considered as an inverted V
system pinned at the ends, distributed on the external
Fig. 10. Deformation controlled action model with frames of the RC building, as it can be seen in Fig. 12.
nonlinear load-deformation parameters and acceptance The BRB element is characterized by the same
criteria ([2]/[9]) behavior in compression as in tension. This behavior is
given by the core plates which absorbs the loads and by
In the case of beams a moment – rotation relationship yielding its dissipating seismic energy while steel tube
for unconfined concrete was described following and infill material restrain the buckling of the core plate
acceptance criteria values from [2]/[9] tables, basing on (see Fig. 13).
efforts obtained from gravity loads (see Fig. 11.a.). It Following steel design from [7], the specifications
should be precise that after insertion of the inverted V from [1] and obtaining the values of some parameters by
BRB system, the plastic hinges defined in beams at their correlation with the experimental part from the literature
intersection with braces elements, were defined as a BRB design and modelling behaviour was obtained.
moment – rotation curves at different stages of the axial BRB system inelastic behaviour was modelled by
force (P-M-M) see Fig. 11.b. In the same way were concentrated plasticity as a bilinear curve with
defined all plastic hinges for the columns, only that the hardening. The material used for BRB was S235 grade
moment – rotation relation was defined differently for steel and for length between 4.2 and 4.6 m (function of
each direction of column cross section. the frame span and height). However, a constant 2 m
was considered for the core of BRB element.
coefficient Δu/Δy was found using formulas from [1], see Following nonlinear static (pushover) analysis, it was
Equation 3: observed the order of plastic hinges in elements
Cmax Tmax (attaining of CP, FEMA acceptance criteria) and the
β= and ω = (3) effect of BRB retrofitting technique on RC building.
Tmax f fysc ⋅ A
In Tables 3, 4 and 5 basing on FEMA assumption of
where fysc= is the measured yield strength of the steel 50% stiffness reduction, for both non-retrofitted frame
core. (RC) and for retrofitted one (RC+BRB), in X and Y
BRB member behaves according to a bilinear force- directions, are presented the elements from each storey
deformation relationship with hardening. In Fig. 14 and (columns, beams and braces in case of retrofitted
Fig. 15 is presented BRB behaviour model and the building). In this manner, it may be followed the order of
corresponding areas of the steel core in dissipative zone. plastic hinges attaining collapse prevention (CP), their
As an observation the steel core (active zone) was corresponding top displacements (D) and base shear
considered to be Lcore=2m for all 3 storeys in both forces (F) (see tables 3, 4 and 5).
directions.
BRB behavior model - X direction
1000
(Compresion/Tension)
750
500
250
Force
[KN]
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 -250 0 5 10 15 20
-500
-750
-1000
Displacement [mm]
ground floor - A=(30 x 100)mm2 Table 3. Plastic hinges (CP) order and corresponding
1'st floor - A=(20 x 100)mm2
2'nd floor - A=(20 x 50)mm2
F and D values from pushover analysis – for columns
Fig.14. BRB behavior model in X direction
BRB behavior model - Y direction
350
Force (Compresion/Tension)
250
150
50
[KN]
-150
-350
5 Performance assessment
In Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 may be observed the pushover BRB system increase strength demand in RC members.
curves resulting from nonlinear analysis in terms of top In this manner a convenient distance it will obtain
displacement and base shear force for both directions. In between reaching of BRB elements at ultimate
this manner, comparing RC and RC+BRB, it may be deformation versus the members (beams and columns)
seen an increasing in strength of about 2.5 times, a of the structure.
large increase of stiffness and around 4 times reduction
of the target displacement. These changes appeared due References:
to BRB system and as it may be seen that BRB elements [1] AISC (2005) Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel
reach ultimate deformation state before columns. Buildings American Institute of Steel Construction,
This strengthening solution reduced the overall Inc. Chicago, Illinois, USA.
damage in the structure, as less plastic hinges formed in [2] ASCE/SEI 41-06 (2007) Seismic Rehabilitation of
reinforced concrete elements at the target displacement. Existing Buildings, American Society of civil
Engineering (formerly FEMA 356)
[3] Clipii T. et all. (1999) Beton armat, Romania,
Editura Orizonturi Universitare, Timisoara.
[4] Eurocode 0 (April 2002) - Basis of structural design
CEN - European Committee for Standardization.
[5] Eurocode 1 (April 2002) Actions on structures - Part
1-1: General actions - Densities, self-weight,
imposed loads for buildings. CEN - European
Committee for Standardization.
[6] Eurocode 2 (December 2003) Design of concrete
Fig. 16. Pushover curves for RC vs. RC+BRB and structures - Part 1-1: General rules and rules for
corresponding target displacement on X direction buildings FINAL DRAFT prEN 1992-1-1. CEN -
European Committee for Standardization
[7] Eurocode 3 (2003). Design of steel structures Part 1-
1: General Rules and Rules for Buildings CEN -
European Committee for Standardization.
[8] Eurocode 8 - EN1998-1 - (December 2004) Design
of structures for earthquake resistance - Part 1:
General rules, seismic actions and rules for
buildings, CEN - European Committee for
Standardization
[9] FEMA 356, (2000) Prestandard and commentary for
the seismic rehabilitation of buildings, Federal
Fig. 17. Pushover curves for RC vs. RC+BRB and Emergency Management Agency, Washington (DC).
corresponding target displacement on Y direction [10] Newell, J.& Higgins, C. (n.d.) Steel Confined
Yielding Damper For Earthquake Resistant Design
6 Concluding Remarks ,NHMJ Young Researchers Symposium June
A nonlinear static analysis was applied on the three 21, 2003,http://cee.uiuc.edu/sstl/nhmj/ppt/Newell.ppt
dimensional model, with finite element method [12], of [11] Park, R. & Paulay, T (1975) Reinforced Concrete
the reinforced concrete building before and after global Structures, New Zealand ,John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
retrofitting with BRB system. New York.
The applied system showed a good effect on global [12] Structural Analysis Program (SAP2000).
behavior of the RC building in terms of strength and [13] Steel Retro report (may-july 2008) Definition of the
stiffness. However, a better response capacity of BRB reinforced concrete benchmark building for the
retrofitting system is expected if a local strengthening of execution of comparative performance analyses
the elements (especially columns) will be applied. between steel intervention techniques (amended
The aim of this analysis was the illustration of version 1.1), WP 3, 4, 5 and 6: Cost, performance
performance base evaluation of BRB retrofitting and constructive analyses of steel solution for
procedure application, which it works only by local retrofitting vertical elements, floors, roofs and
strengthening. Also, a better sizing of BRB member in foundations RIVA Acciaio S.p.A. - Aurelio Braconi,
balance with initial structural stiffness and strength may Alessandro Osta, University of Pisa - Luca Nardini,
be performed. Local strengthening of columns, maybe Walter Salvatore
beams too (with FRP), is needed due to the fact that