A Seminar on

SEISMIC RETROFITTING OF
COLUMNS & FOUNDATIONS

CONTENTS:
1.
2.
2.
3.

Introduction
Basic concepts of retrofitting
Need for retrofitting
Building deficiencies
Plan irregularities
Vertical irregularities

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Steps taken prior to retrofitting

Classification of seismic retrofitting techniques
Seismic retrofitting for Columns & Foundations
Conclusions
References

INTRODUCTION:
DEFINITION:
Methods of increasing resistant capacity of structure by
various techniques called retrofitting.
Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures
to make them more resistant to the seismic activity, ground
motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes.
The retrofit techniques are also applicable for other natural
hazards such as tropical cyclones, tornadoes & severe winds from
thunderstorms.
Structure can be
Earthquake damaged
Earthquake vulnerable

BASIC CONCEPT OF RETROFITTING

Up gradation of lateral strength of the structure.
Increase the ductility of structure.
Increase the strength & ductility.
NEED FOR RETROFITTING
Makes building safer & less prone to damage.
To ensure the safety & security of the building, employees,
structural functionality, machinery & inventory.
Essential to reduce hazard & losses from non structural
elements.
Predominantly concerned with structural improvements to
reduce seismic hazard.
Demands on existing structures are increasing.

BUILDING DEFICIENCIES:
Plan irregularities
1. Torsional irregularity due to plan symmetry & eccentric
mass from water tank.
2. Re-entrant corners in U-,L-, & T- shaped buildings.
3. Diaphragm discontinuity due to openings
4. Out-of-plane offset for floating columns along perimeter
Vertical irregularities
1. Stiffness irregularity, extreme soft storey due to open
ground storey.
2. Mass irregularity.
3. Vertical geometric irregularity
4. In-plane discontinuity for floating columns along
perimeter.

STEPS TAKEN PRIOR TO RETROFITTING:

Screening
Evaluation
retrofit

RETROFIT OF STRUCTURES USING INNOVATIVE

MATERIALS:

High performance concrete

High performance steel
Fiber reinforced plastic

CLASSIFICATION OF RETROFITTING
TECHNIQUES:
Global
1. Adding shear wall
2. Adding infill wall
3. Adding bracing
4. Adding wing wall
5. Wall thickening
6. Mass reduction
7. Base isolation
8. Mass dampers

Local
1. Jacketing of beams
2. Jacketing of
columns
3. Jacketing of beamcolumns joints
4. Strengthening of
individual footing

RETROFITTING OF RC STRUCTURES:
a) Strengthening of existing members
Reinforced concrete jacketing
Steel plate bonding & steel plate caging: FRP
Plate bonding & jacketing
b) adding a new member
Shear walls
Frames
Bracings
Buttresses

RETROFITTING FOR THE COLUMNS:

JACKETING:
Most popular method of
strengthening of columns.
Types 1.Steel jacket 2.Reinforced
concrete jacket 3. FRPC jacket
Purpose :

To increase the concrete

confinement

To increase the shear strength &

flexural strength

FRP wrapping
In this method fiber should be
located horizontally
perpendicular to the axis of
column.
It increases the strength of
concrete by confinement & also
improves ductility.
Main drawback is high cost &
inadequate fire resistance

ADDING NEW SHEAR

WALLS:
Frequently used for
Retrofitting of non ductile
Reinforced concrete frame
Buildings
Added members are may be
cast-in-place or pre cast
concrete elements.

ADDING OF STEEL BRACINGS:

An effective solutions
when large openings are
required.
Potential advantages for
the following reasons
-Higher strength &
stiffness
-Openings for the natural
light
-adds less weight to
existing structure

RETROFITTING OF FOUNDATION:
Load from the superstructure get transmitted to the soil
through foundation.
Seismic retrofit includes the strengthening of inadequate
foundations or supplementing with new foundation.
Before retrofitting to be carried out we need to study the
location of foundation, dimension, geometry, quality &
bearing capacity & degree of damage to the foundation.
Depending upon the evaluation of performance different
methods are to be adopted.

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS ON FOUNDATIONS:

Ground sliding

Differential settlement

Ground tilting

Liquefaction

Important methods used for retrofitting of foundations of

buildings are:
Grouting:
Grout is highly pressurized into loose ground & compresses
the surrounding soil in the lateral direction.
After the some time grout is solidified & increase the shear
strength of underlying soil to mitigate liquefaction.
Cement grout is commonly used because of its excellent
durability.
To restore the differential settlement impermeable grout is
injected into ground on the depressed side which increases
volume causing the ground to rise.

DRILLING OF MICRIPILES:
Micro piles are of diameter 300mm or less can be drilled through
the existing foundations.
After the hole is drilled, it is grouted with the cement slurry &
reinforcement bars are inserted.
The piles extend much beyond the foundation level and transfer
the loads to the deeper level over a wider width.
UNDER PINNING WITH PILES:
It is used when strata below the foundation is very weak &
increasing area of footing is not sufficient.
Additional piles are symmetrically placed around the edge of
existing foundation to ensure the effective load transfer.
After the construction of piles the size of footing is increased &
dowel bars are provided between existing & new concrete.

MICROPILES
PILES

UNDER PINNING WITH

CONCLUSIONS:

It is an effective method of reducing the risks for existing

seismically deficient structures.
Retrofitting techniques are also applicable for the other natural
hazards.
Gives the safety to the occupants.
Cost effective.
It is important to obtain accurate as-built information &
analytical data to perform the seismic evaluation of existing
structure & to select the appropriate retrofitting strategy based
on the performance, economy & constructability.

Prevention is better than cure

REFERENCES:

Seismic retrofitting of RC buildings vol. 7 Issue 2 (mayjune 2013), pp, 49-62

ISET Journal of Earthquake technology, paper no.454,

vol.42 no 2-3 (june- sept 2005.pp 21-46.

Hand book on seismic retrofit of buildings, central

public works dept. & Indian building congress in association
with Indian institute of technology, Madras.

Elnashai A.S & Salama, A.I(1992) Selective repair &

retrofitting techniques for RC Structures in Seismic
Regions, Research report ESEE/ 92.2, Engineering seismology &
earthquake Engineering section, Imperial college, London .