Geotechnical, Geological and Earthquake Engineering, vol.10, pp.367-386, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
In Turkey, experimental research on seismic rehabilitation started at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1969. Since then several research projects in this field leading to developing rehabilitation technologies have been carried out. Majority of these researches inquired the introduction of reinforced concrete infills to the selected bays of the frames. This method developed at METU was applied to a significant number of seismically deficient RC buildings and it was proven to be effective in the past earthquakes. Application of this method, however, necessitates evacuation of the building during construction. Urgent developments of new strengthening methodologies which do not require the evacuation of the building, therefore, become imperative. Subsequently, a research project was initiated at METU Structural Mechanics Laboratory in 2001, which aimed to strengthen the existing masonry infill walls by means of CFRP sheets, to convert these walls into structural elements forming a new lateral load resisting system. As a continuation of the former project, in this study eight 1/3 scaled 2-story 1-bay RC frames, having the common deficiencies of the structures in Turkey, were tested. In this chapter, the test results are revealed in terms of lateral strength, stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics of the specimens. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.