Simplified Pushover Analysis for School Building Retrofitted with Reinforced Concrete Jacketing

Simplified Pushover Analysis for School Building Retrofitted with Reinforced Concrete Jacketing

Many elementary and secondary school buildings were damaged by the devastating 921 Chi-Chi earthquake, which led many researchers to propose retrofitting methods to improve the seismic performance of school buildings. Retrofitting with reinforced concrete jacketing at columns can increase the ductility and strength of buildings. After this procedure, a simplified pushover analysis can be performed to understand the behavior of the structure, and this is an easy way to allow young engineers to analyze structures by hand instead of using software like ETABS. The method used for analysis is called slope-deflection pushover. It is based on the slope-deflection method but includes some additional assumptions. Because of this, it is not only suitable for weak-column strong-beam buildings but also strong-column weak-beam buildings. Compared with experimental results, the slope-deflection pushover analysis underestimates the strength and deformation capacity, but overestimates the stiffness of a building. Compared with ETABS analysis, the strength and stiffness of the building estimated by the slope-deflection pushover analysis are higher than those determined by the ETABS analysis. Furthermore, the mode and sequence of failure of the building determined by the slope-deflection pushover analysis are also very similar to those determined by ETABS analysis.