Comparative seismic performance assessment of UHPC jacketing and sced bracing techniques

Observed damage to existing pre-seismic code buildings in previous earthquakes has raised interest among the engineering community for improving the performance of these structures using different seismic retrofit measures. This paper throws light on contemporary techniques for the seismic retrofit of RC buildings, namely ultra-highperformance concrete (UHPC) jacketing and self-centering energy dissipative (SCED) braces. Detailed fiber-based numerical modeling of a benchmark structure is undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of the selected retrofit measures. The case study structure is a two-story pre-seismic code residential building designed for gravity and wind loads, exhibiting poor seismic performance. Along with the two retrofit strategies investigated, several parameters are also considered. Inelastic static pushover and incremental dynamic analyses are conducted to select the retrofit measures and assess their effects on seismic performance. Using a collection of farfield earthquake records and a set of performance criteria, fragility functions are constructed to assess the vulnerability of the benchmark structure with and without the retrofit solutions. The study shows that the adopted index that links cost to the seismic performance obtained from the fragility functions can provide a rational ranking of the selected retrofit approaches relative to the existing building and support selecting the most effective and economical alternative.