Performance-based plastic design for seismic rehabilitation of high rise frames with eccentric bracing and vertical link

A large number of available concrete buildings designed only considering gravity load that require seismic rehabilitation because of failure to meet plasticity criteria. Using steel bracings are a common type of seismic rehabilitation. The eccentric bracings with vertical link reduce non-elastic deformation imposed on concrete members as well as elimination of probable buckling problems of bracings. In this study, three concrete frames of 10, 15, and 20 stories designed only for gravity load have been considered for seismic improvement using performance-based plastic design. Afterwards, nonlinear time series analysis was employed to evaluate seismic behavior of the models in two modes including before and after rehabilitation. The results revealed that shear link can yield desirable performance with the least time, cost and number of bracings of concrete frames. Also, it was found that the seismic rehabilitation can reduce maximum relative displacement in the middle stories about 40 to 80 percent. Generally, findings of this study demonstrated that the eccentric bracing with vertical link can be employed as a suitable proxy to achieve better seismic performance for existing high rise concrete frames.