Seismic performance and global ductility of RC frames rehabilitated with retrofitted joints by CFRP laminates

This paper presents a new FRP retrofitting scheme to strengthen local beam-column joints in reinforced concrete (RC) frames. The new retrofitting scheme was proposed following a preliminary study of four different existing retrofitting schemes. A numerical simulation was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of FRP-strengthened reinforced concrete frames by bridging behavior of local joints to the whole structure. Local confinement effects due to varying retrofitting schemes in the joints were simulated in the frame model. The seismic behavior factor was used to evaluate the seismic performance of the strengthened RC frames. The results demonstrated that the new proposed retrofitting scheme was robust and promising, and finite element analysis appropriately captured the strength and global ductility of the frame due to upgrading of the local joints.