Steel brace is a popular option among seismic rehabilitation methods for school buildings, but it has a weakness in that the section area must be large enough to prevent buckling, so stiffness and strength are highly increased locally, and foundation reinforcing is required. On the contrary, BRB has strength that the steel core may be negligible since buckling is restrained, so the increase of stiffness and strength is insignificant, and foundation reinforcing may not be required. This study compared the effectiveness of both reinforcing methods for the seismic performance of school buildings by conducting both pushover and nonlinear dynamic analyses. Steel brace and BRB reinforcing may not be satisfied by nonlinear dynamic analysis, even by pushover analysis. This result is due to the school buildings' low lateral resistance and high column shear strength ratio. Suppose BRB can be regarded as a general rehabilitation method. In that case, BRB reinforcing is a favorable and economical option for school buildings with low column shear strength ratio since it can better satisfy performance objectives than steel brace by pushover analysis with a small steel core and no foundation reinforcing.
Many school buildings are vulnerable to earthquakes because they were built before mandatory seismic design was applied. This study uses machine learning to develop an algorithm that rapidly constructs an optimal reinforcement scheme with simple information for non-ductile reinforced concrete school buildings built according to standard design drawings in the 1980s. We utilize a decision tree (DT) model that can conservatively predict the failure type of reinforced concrete columns through machine learning that rapidly determines the failure type of reinforced concrete columns with simple information, and through this, a methodology is developed to construct an optimal reinforcement scheme for the confinement ratio (CR) for ductility enhancement and the stiffness ratio (SR) for stiffness enhancement. By examining the failure types of columns according to changes in confinement ratio and stiffness ratio, we propose a retrofit scheme for school buildings with masonry walls and present the maximum applicable stiffness ratio and the allowable range of stiffness ratio increase for the minimum and maximum values of confinement ratio. This retrofit scheme construction methodology allows for faster construction than existing analysis methods.
Recently, the occurrence frequency of earthquake has increased in Korea, and the interests for seismic reinforcement of existing school buildings have been raised. To this end, the seismic performance evaluations for school buildings that did not accomplish the seismic design are required. In particular, this study checks the eigenvalue analysis, pushover curves, maximum base shears, performance points and story drift ratios, and then analyzes the seismic performance characteristics according to bracing configuration of steel frame system reinforcement. Also, this study presents the practical field application methods through the comparison of analysis results for the seismic performance characteristics.
In the case of a school building, even though it is a regular structure in terms of plan shape, if the masonry infill wall acts as a lateral load resisting element, it can be determined as a torsionally irregular building. As a result, the strength and ductility of the structure are reduced, which may cause additional earthquake damage to the structure. Therefore, in this study, a structure similar to a school building with torsional irregularity was selected as an example structure and the damping performance of the PC-BRB was analyzed by adjusting the eccentricity according to the amount of masonry infilled wall. As a result of nonlinear dynamic analysis after seismic reinforcement, the torsional irregularity of each floor was reduced compared to before reinforcement, and the beams and column members of the collapse level satisfied the performance level due to the reduction of shear force and the reinforcement of stiffness. The energy dissipation of PC-BRB was similar in the REC-10 ~ REC-20 analytical models with an eccentricity of 20% or less. REC-25 with an eccentricity of 25% was the largest, and it is judged that it is effective to combine and apply PC-BRB when it has an eccentricity of 25% or more to control the torsional behavior.
Following the social requirement to strengthen field supervision of the asbestos containing materials (ACM) abatement process with regard to asbestos school buildings, this study was conducted to understand the status and characteristics of airborne asbestos that may potentially occur after the ACM abatement process is completed. In the area where a series of asbestos abatement processes were finally completed, comprehensive area air sampling was performed. For sample analysis, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used according to The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) method and Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) analysis was also performed. Airborne asbestos was detected in 29.5% of the total samples, and the average concentration was 0.0039 ± 0.0123 s/cc (12.3 ± 38.9 s/mm2). 4.5% of the total samples exceeded the AHERA standard (70.0 s/mm2) and the average concentration was 0.0528 ± 0.0256 s/cc (167.2 ± 82.0 s/mm2). Airborne asbestos was no longer detected at the point when AHERA is exceeded after re-cleaning. Most of the detected asbestos was chrysotile (94.4%) and the structure types of asbestos were Matrix (41.4%), Fiber (39.9%), Bundle (10.8%), and Cluster (7.8%). Among the asbestos structures detected through transmission electron microscope analysis, the asbestos structures satisfying PCM-equivalent structures were found to be 6% of the detected asbestos, indicating that there is a limitation of the PCM analysis to check the airborne asbestos in that area. As a result of reviewing the status of airborne asbestos that may potentially occur and the type and dimensions of asbestos structure detected in the area, since the airborne asbestos exposure caused by poor field supervision for the ACM abatement process could not be ruled out, thorough management is necessary. In addition, the result of this study could be used as scientific evidence for establishing and strengthening policies related to ACM abatement, including cases of school buildings.
Steel brace strengthening is the most popular seismic rehabilitation method for school buildings. This is because the design can be conducted by using relatively easy nonlinear pushover analysis and standard modeling in codes. An issue with steel brace strengthening is that the reinforced building should behave elastically to satisfy performance objectives. For this, the size of steel braces should be highly increased, which results in excessive strengthening cost by force concentration on existing members and foundations due to the considerable stiffness and strength of the steel braces. The main reason may be the brittle failure mode of columns, so this study investigated the relationship between the efficiency of steel brace strengthening and column failure modes. The result showed that the efficiency is highly dependent on the shear capacity ratio of columns and structural analysis methods. School buildings reinforced by steel braces do not need to behave elastically when the shear capacity ratio is low, and pushover analysis is used, which means reducing steel material is possible.
As earthquakes have increased in Korea recently, people are paying attention to the seismic performance of buildings built in the past. Many school buildings in Korea were built based on standard drawings before the seismic design was applied. However, since school buildings are often designated as emergency evacuation facilities in case of disasters such as earthquakes, seismic evaluation and retrofit must be done quickly. This study investigated the failure modes among structural components (beams, columns, and joints), focusing on 1980s standard drawings for school buildings. The effects of column axial force, partial masonry infills, and different material strengths for concrete and rebar were considered for detailed evaluation. As a result, most of the joints were found to be the weakest among structural components. Column axial forces tended to make the joints more vulnerable, and partial masonry infills increased the possibility of joint failure and shear failure in columns.
As earthquakes continue to occur in Korea in recent years, seismic evaluation and retrofit of existing school buildings have been carried out. Many domestic school buildings were built using or referring to standard drawings. Therefore, if the overall structural characteristics of a school building can be known first based on standard drawings, it can be provided as valuable data for detailed seismic evaluation. For this reason, this study investigated the weak structural components and failure modes by comparing the strength of beams, columns, and joints constituting standard school buildings constructed in the 1980s. The evaluation was performed for different types of standard drawings and different material strengths. The results showed that the joint was mainly the weakest due to the eccentricity, and the failure modes were partially changed depending on the material strength.
Response modification factors of school facilities for non-seismic RC moment frames with partial masonry infills in ‘Manual for Seismic Performance Evaluation and Retrofit of School Facilities’ published in 2018 were investigated in the preceding study. However, since previous studies are based on 2D frame analysis and limited analysis conditions, additional verification needs to be performed to further apply various conditions including orthogonal effect of seismic load. Therefore, this study is to select appropriate response modification factors of school facilities for non-seismic RC moment frames with partial masonry infills by 3D frame analysis. The results are as follows. An appropriate response modification factor for non-seismic RC moment frames with partial masonry infills is proposed as 2.5 for all cases if the period is longer than 0.6 seconds. Also if the period is less than 0.4 seconds and the ratio of shear-controlled columns is less than 30%, 2.5 is chosen too. However, if the period is less than 0.4 seconds and the ratio of shear-controlled columns is higher than 30%, the response modification factor shall be reduced to 2.0. If the period is between 0.4 and 0.6 seconds, then linearly interpolates the response correction factor.
Most school buildings consist of reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames with masonry infills. The longitudinal direction frames of those school buildings are relatively weak due to the short-column effects caused by the partial masonry infills and need to be evaluated carefully. In ‘Manual for Seismic Performance Evaluation and Retrofit of School Facilities’ published in 2018, response modification factor of 2.5 is applied to non-seismic RC moment frames with partial masonry infills, but sufficient verification of the factor has not been reported yet. Therefore, this study conducted seismic performance evaluation of planar RC moment frames with partial masonry infills in accordance with both linear analysis and nonlinear static analysis procedures presented in the manual. The evaluation results from the different procedures are compared in terms of assessed performance levels and number of members not meeting target performance objectives. Finally, appropriate response modification factors are proposed with respect to a shear-controlled column ratio.
We investigated the distribution of asbestos in Seoul for 16 school buildings built before and after 1990, includingkindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. The risk assessment standards of AHERA,HSE and ASTM were reviewed and a comparative analysis of assessment standards was conducted in schoolbuildings. For the risk assessment of 16 schools, 170 samples were selected, each of which was assessed usingstandards of AHERA, HSE and ASTM. The school buildings included the ACM (asbestos containing materials)ranged 3-4% of chrysotile and 1-3% of amosite in classroom ceilings and has 7-8% chrysotile in partitions of studenttoilets. The airborne concentrations of fiber materials were ranged with 0.002-0.022 fiber/cc in school buildingsby PCM. In this study, a simplified rating scale was used three categories of Good, Damaged and SignificantlyDamaged. In the result of comparative analysis for the risk assessment criteria, it was found that 113 samples, 132samples and 82 samples were classified as Good when assessed by AHERA, HSE and ASTM, respectively; and46 samples, 29 samples and 53 samples as Damaged, respectively; and 12 samples, 8 samples and 34 samples asSignificantly Damaged, respectively. From the distribution of asbestos and the comparative analysis for the riskassessment criteria, the management plan and new risk assessment were made based on the Korea backgroundshould be established to control asbestos exposure to students from damaged ACM and will be revealed that theassessment for the current condition and potential for disturbance on asbestos in school buildings.
The seismic performance of school buildings has been a matter of common interest socially and academically. The structural system of the school buildings is representative of the domestic low-rise reinforced concrete moment resisting frames, which apply extensively infills in their masonry walls. The masonry infilled walls are divided into full masonry infill in the transverse direction and partial masonry infill in the longitudinal direction. The masonry infilled walls are usually not included in structural analysis during the design process, but affect significantly the seismic performance because they behave with surrounding frames simultaneously during earthquakes. Many researchers have studied the effect of the masonry infilled walls, but several issues have been missed such as the increase of asymmetry by adding the full masonry infill, the size of the mean strength of the full masonry infill, and short column effect by the partial masonry infill. The issues were analytically investigated and the results showed that they should be checked at least by nonlinear pushover analysis in the seismic performance evaluation process. The results also confirm the weakness of the guideline of Korean Educational Development Institute where the seismic performance is basically assessed without structural analysis.
The core aim of this paper is to empirically scrutinize a strength characteristic and ductility of the beam-column frame of reinforced with steel subjected to the cyclic lateral load. First and foremost, I the author embarks upon making four prototypes vis-à-vis this research. Through this endeavour, the author has analysed cyclic behavior, fracture shape, ductility and energy dissipation of the normal beam-column frame and a beam-column frame of reinforced with steel. In addition, the survey has revealed the exact stress transfer path and the destructive mechanism in order to how much a beam-column frame of reinforced with steel has resistance to earthquake regarding all types of building, as well as school construction. To get the correct data, the author has compared the normal beam-column frame and three types of the beam-column frame of reinforced with steel following these works, the characteristic of cyclic behavior, destructive mechanism, ductility, and Energy dissipation of normal beam-column frame and a beam-column frame of reinforced with steel have been examined clearly.
In Korea, most existing school buildings have been constructed with moment frames with un-reinforced infill walls designed only considering gravity loads. Thus, the buildings may not perform satisfactorily during earthquakes expected in Korea. In exterior frames of the building, un-reinforced masonry infill walls with window openings are commonly placed, which may alter the structural behavior of adjacent columns due to the interaction between the wall and column. The objective of this study is to evaluate the seismic performance of existing school buildings according to the procedure specified in ATC 63. Analytical models are proposed to simulate the structural behavior of columns, infill walls and their interaction. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing the analytical results with the experimental test results for one bay frames with and without infill walls with openings. For seismic performance evaluation, three story buildings are considered as model frames located at sites having different soil conditions ( , , , , ) in Korea. It is observed that columns behaves as a short columns governed by shear due to infill masonry walls with openings. The collapse probabilities of the frames under maximum considered earthquake ranges from 62.9 to 99.5 %, which far exceed the allowable value specified in ATC 63.
Many school buildings are not applied seismic code because of small size structures. But it must be designed to show enough structural performance when subject to earthquake. Especially, most of school buildings are generally used as public shelters when the natural disasters such as flood and earthquake occur. In this study, the seismic risk of the reinforced concrete school building structure was evaluated by using the seismic performance evaluation methods of low-story RC structures developed in Japan and the required seismic performance index. In this paper, the seismic performance of the school building is evaluated by considering this short-column effects, building shape and deterioration.
Most of the school buildings were built before the seismic code was established. To consider the sunlight and ventilation to the partition walls are built about 1m height beside columns at typical school buildings. For the reason, columns which is consisted school building occur brittle failure shape by the reduced effective depth. In this study, experimental test for retrofitting effect by Aramid Fiber Reinforced Polymers(AFRP) strips on masonry infilled reinforced concrete(RC) frames is performed. The test results were to ensured enough time to evacuate due to the enhancement of ductility and strength of school buildings to withstand earthquakes using AFRP strips .
In this study, the seismic performance of RC school buildings which were not designed according to earthquake-resistance design code were evaluated by using response spectrum and push-over analyses. From the results of analysis, the efficiency of the seismic retrofitting methods RC shear wall, steel frame, RC frame and PC wing wall for existing RC school buildings was evaluated and analysised. The analysis result indicate that the inter-story drift concentrated in the first floor and most plastic hinge forms in the column of the first story. And results of analysis of the efficiency of the seismic retrofitting indicate that inter-story drift significantly reduced and ductile behavior is expected.
Since the school buildings are generally used as public shelters when the natural disasters such as flood and earthquake occur, it must be designed to show enough structural performance when subject to earthquake. Major failure mode of the school buildings observed in past earthquakes were shear failure of column of which length is shortened by infilled masonry blocks. ln this study, the seismic risk of the reinforced concrete school building structure was evaluated by using the seismic performance evaluation methods of low-story RC structures developed in Japan and the required seismic performance index which is obtained according to the KBC2008 seismic hazard map and soil types. ln this paper, the seismic performance of the school building is evaluated by considering this short-column effects, building shape and deterioration.
This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of asbestos distribution in 6 public and 6 school buildings from August to September in 2006. The bulk samples were analysed by PLM(polarized light microscope). Also the airborne samples were analysed PCM(phase contrast microscope) and confirmed by SEM-EDX(scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive using X-ray analysis) method. The 6 public buildings included the ACM(asbestos containing material) ranged 2-7 % of chrysotile in 70 % of samples from ceiling, floor tile, and wall board and has 20 % tremolite in 2 ceiling plaster. The 6 school buildings were identified 1.5 % tremolite in one sample and showed the similar asbestos distribution with the public building. The airborne concentrations of fiber materials were ranged with 0.000-0.017 f/cc in public places and 0.000-0.012 f/cc in school building by PCM. However, the asbestos fibers could not be found by SEM-EDX. In the result of physical assessment of ACM in each buildings, it is considered that there is no chance of a hazardous situation because the ACM is not friable. Its suggested that the asbestos control plan should be established to prevent asbestos exposure to occupants from damaged ACM by repairing and custodial work.