Seismic performance evaluation of an external steel frame retrofit system

In this study a steel moment frame system to be installed on the exterior surface of an existing structure is proposed as a seismic retrofit device. The seismic performance of the retrofit system was investigated by installing it on the exterior of a single story single bay reinforced concrete frame and testing it under cyclic loading. The cyclic loading test results indicated that the steel frame significantly enhanced the strength and ductility of the bare structure. Finite element analysis was carried out to validate the test results, and it was observed that there was good agreement between the two results. An analytical model was developed in order to apply the retrofit system to an example structure subjected to seven mainshock-aftershock sequential earthquake records. It was observed that the model structure was severely damaged due to the mainshock earthquakes, and the seismic response of the model structure increased significantly due to the subsequent aftershock earthquakes. The seismic retrofit of the model structure using the proposed steel frame turned out to be effective in decreasing the seismic response below the given limit state.