Seismic Retrofitting Makes Your Home Seismic Resistant
Seismic
retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more
resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to
earthquakes. Seismic retrofitting With a better understanding of
seismic demand on structures and with the recent experiences with large
earthquakes near urban centers, the need for seismic retrofitting structural retrofitting is
well acknowledged. Earthquake engineering is applied for the seismic retrofit
of structures that involves alteration of existing structures to obtain
resistance to seismic activity or soil failure due to earthquakes. Retrofit is
now widely performed, especially in active seismic zones.
Seismic
retrofitting is a field of construction engineering that focuses on the
modification of existing structures to enhance their capability to resist
earthquakes. It is achieved by the inclusion of structural improvements that
may prevent the building, people, and equipment from being damaged by seismic
waves. In seismic zones, retrofitting may be essential for bridges, overpasses,
tunnels, and buildings. While new construction would require compliance with
seismic standards.
Seismic
retrofitting may be executed on concrete masonry, unreinforced masonry, soft story,
and concrete tilt-up construction. A soft-story building is a multi-story
building with abundant open space and concrete tilt-up construction. Concrete
is filled in the panels that form the walls of the structure. Since the
concrete tilt-up walls are normally heavy, seismic retrofitting may be
necessary. The motive for the concrete tilt-up retrofit is to prevent the
separation of the roof from the building walls.
There
are several categories of seismic retrofitting and their nature depends upon
the purpose for which the retrofit is executed. The main form is the public
safety retrofit involving structural reinforcement to save human life though
some degree of injury is acceptable. Such retrofit is performed on structures
that are not extremely expensive and for which a complete rebuild is not
desired. A lower level retrofit may be selected to ensure earthquake endurance
of the structure with some repairs needed after the earthquake. An extensive
retrofit may be essential for buildings that are important due to cultural,
historical, or other reasons. Mostly, retrofit is performed on extensively high
buildings, with an unsafe earthquake vibration frequency. Roads also have a
priority in retrofit because their service is essential during an earthquake to
ensure the function of emergency services.
Numerous
techniques are used for the seismic retrofitting of structures. Their selection
is based on the objective of retrofit, type of structure, soil conditions, and
the expenditures involved. Seismic retrofitting of buildings may reduce
earthquake damage by suitable structural modifications, but no technique will
eliminate the risk of seismic waves. Reinforcement of the buildings by the use
of girders and trusses is normally implemented to make the buildings safe. Base
isolators are utilized to decouple the structure from the shaking ground, thus
achieving seismic vibration control. Supplementary dampers minimize the
structure resonant effects, increase the energy dissipation and reduce the
displacement of structures. Other retrofit techniques include the use of
absorbers and baffles to make the building safe from an earthquake. To get your
work done, you can contact us through our website. Structural India is one of
the best seismic retrofitting
provider companies in India.
Comments
Post a Comment