Reducing the Seismic Vulnerability for RC Buildings by Using Steel Bracing Elements

This article aims to highlight, through a comparative study, the efficiency of steel bracing systems used to reduce seismic vulnerabilities in existing buildings with reinforced concrete structures (reinforced concrete frames and reinforced concrete dual structures, general building structures including those used in transport infrastructure). In order to simplify the calculations, the analysis was reduced to the study of the behavior of resistance lines corresponding to four-, nine- and fifteen-level buildings with the same plane distribution. In order to obtain features similar to those of existing building elements, structures were initially loaded with seismic forces corresponding to code P13-63. The next step was to apply to previously dimensioned structures the seismic loads according to P100-3: 2008 in relation to P100-1: 2013, thus obtaining the deficiencies of the existing structures against the requirements of these norms. Correction of these strength and stiffness deficiencies was attempted by introducing X-shaped centric brace systems. The bracing systems used as consolidation methods are of three types: direct bracings stuck in the reinforced concrete frames and bracings of the indirect type, made of internal and external bracing steel frames. Structural calculations were made in the linear elastic field using the ETABS program.