Rehabilitation of an Edified Building in a Seismic Zone in Algeria According to the Eurocode 8-3

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to perform a study on rehabilitation of a vital seven-story administrative building located in a low seismic area according to the old Algerian earthquake regulations (RPA88). Modifications were brought to the old code, including the seismic zoning which passed from moderate to high seismicity. The applied rehabilitation standards are based on the recommendations of the Eurocode 8-3 (EC8-3). The assessment of the vulnerability of the existing construction showed that the seismic forces at the base are lower than those required by the Algerian seismic code RPA99/V2003. As a retrofitting measure to strengthen this construction, the addition of new shears walls in both directions of the building was proposed. The dynamic study of the structure with the suggested structural intervention fulfilled all the required dynamic characteristics. For setting evidence of the performance of the proposed strengthening solution for the existing construction, a non-linear static analysis or pushover was accomplished. The obtained results using the SAP 2000 software enable us to make a comparison between the nonlinear behavior of the modified structure and the initial one. Compared to the original structure, from the point of view of the performance status, the strengthened structure showed a marked improvement in the strength and damping exceeding 80% while the overall capacity for resistance is enhanced more than three times.