Page 6 - Advanced Design Examples of Seismic Retrofit of Structures
P. 6

Preface






             Earthquake vulnerability of buildings has been acknowledged across the globe
             with many examples of seismic damage in China, India, Latin America, and
             Europe as well as the United States. Much attention has been focused on this
             topic worldwide from both societal and engineering perspectives. As a result,
             a significant amount of development work has been carried out to evaluate var-
             ious assessment methodologies and evaluate possible retrofit methods. The
             main challenges in seismic retrofit are usually attributed to understanding the
             available codes requirements, modeling assumptions, methods, and retrofitting
             schemes.
                Seismic retrofit of structures covers a broad range of structural types and
             retrofit methods, and hence it is more complex than designing new buildings.
             It is quite likely that two very different retrofit methods may be proposed for a
             single project by two different consulting engineers. Even the details of a unique
             retrofit technique may differ for a single project by different design engineers.
             Part of this variety originates from the design and implementation ambiguities
             regarding retrofit projects. Compared to designing new buildings, retrofitting
             has never been an undergraduate or graduate compulsory course; and there
             are fewer retrofitting projects than there are new buildings being constructed.
             As a result, experience in the design and implementation of retrofit projects
             is very limited compared to ordinary construction projects. Although there
             are good retrofit codes available to professionals, experiences prove that the
             engineers’ “interpretations” of these codes may vary a lot. Therefore, there is
             a need to elaborate the concepts of design and the construction details of retrofit
             projects. In response to this need, the current book tries to present some real
             projects that can be regarded as good representatives of different retrofit pro-
             jects with the emphasis on dealing with ambiguities, questions, and difficulties
             in design and construction.
                The idea for this book started some years ago with university students and
             industry colleagues, with the goal of facilitating the use of design codes related
             to seismic retrofit of common structures. Beginning with the introduction of
             concepts and approaches, this book aims at presenting several examples of real
             retrofitting projects that cover a broad range of structural systems and retrofit-
             ting methods. In-depth design calculation procedures are found in each example
             and the reason behind the selection of a particular method or assumption is
             elaborated. The book not only provides a valuable source for previously



                                                                          xiii
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11