Assessment of Seismic Performance and Strengthening of RC Existing Residual Buildings in the Sudan

Abstract

The evaluation of seismic performance of existing buildings has received a great attention in the last decade. A common engineering practice in the Sudan not to consider earthquake effects in the design of all buildings. Therefore, all types of buildings in the Sudan are not earthquake-resistant. The objective of this paper is to assess the seismic performance of existing residual buildings in the Sudan. One case study has been chosen for this purpose. The evaluation has proved that the columns of four-story residual buildings is not seismically safe. A comparative study has been conducted to choose a suitable strengthening method. An effective method has been proposed by adding RC shear walls. Three cases of same positions for the shear walls with thicknesses of 20 cm, 15 cm and 10 cm have been examined. It has been proved that RC wall with 15 cm thickness is suitable strategy for this case to reduce the seismic vulnerability of exiting (RC) buildings in the Sudan.