Innovative Strategy to Reduce the Seismic Vulnerability of a RC Existing Building: Assessment and Retrofitting

In the present paper we have evaluated the seismic response of a Reinforced Concrete (RC) existing building located in an area classified as high seismicity zone and designed, in the past, only for gravitational loads. We have compared traditional and innovative steel braces for the seismic retrofitting by using a Displacement Based Approach. The innovative steel braces allow a significant improvement of the seismic behavior of the building by providing a better dissipation of the seismic input energy in the structure and thus ensuring a better performance of the RC structure in the elastoplastic range. Unlike the traditional retrofitting, the innovative strategy allows to significantly reduce the plasticization of the structural frame at the ultimate limit state, in order to minimize the post-seismic actions on the structure.