A nonlinear quadrilateral layered membrane element with drilling degrees of freedom for the modeling of reinforced concrete walls

This essay presents the Saccomani family house, designed in the 1960s by Giandomenico Belotti in Fogajard, a cluster of isolated farmsteads near Madonna di Campiglio where, to this day, one may still breathe the farming life atmosphere of the times gone by. The clients developed a particular affection for the place and chose it for their free time. A bond is created and lives through a project that interprets the theme of the refuge in a modern way. Built at the margins of the meadows, at the limit of the woodland, the architecture abstracts the elements of tradition and translates them with today’s language, with no winking or analogies. The dry appearance of the exteriors, made of reinforced concrete walls, timber infills and a cantilevering horizontal roof, is matched by warm and welcoming interiors made of wooden and textile elements. It is through the architect’s coherent approach and his friendship with a passionate client that this work finds its particular shape, giving life to an authentic and honest experience of Alpine dwelling.

Download Full-text

Seismic Rehabilitation of a School Building in Cephalonia, Greece

Case Studies on Conservation and Seismic Strengthening/Retrofitting of Existing Structures ◽

10.2749/cs002.001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Christos Giarlelis ◽

Evlalia Lamprinou ◽

Constantinos Repapis

Keyword(s):

Reinforced Concrete ◽

Response Spectrum ◽

Earthquake Sequence ◽

School Building ◽

Structural Walls ◽

Concrete Walls ◽

Seismic Rehabilitation ◽

Reinforced Concrete Walls ◽

Structural Capacity ◽

Structural Failures

<p>The 2014 earthquake sequence in Cephalonia, Greece, resulted in a number of structural failures. In Argostoli, the capital of the island, a school building suffered light damage; however, the structural assessment following the analysis procedures of the recently published Greek Code for Structural Interventions, showed that seismic strengthening is required. The structure was built on the aftermath of the catastrophic 1953 Ionian earthquake sequence based on older code requirements, which are much outdated, as indicated from the results of both modal response spectrum analyses and non-linear static analyses. The retrofit aims to increase the very low structural capacity of the building and as a means for that the use of concrete jackets is selected. Based on the results of the assessment, it was decided that concrete jackets should be applied to all columns, while large structural walls running along the transversal direction were strengthened with single-sided reinforced concrete jacketing. The interventions are limited by architectural demands and cost considerations. However, analyses of the strengthened structure show that the interventions improve its seismic behaviour adequately. The detailing of interventions is thoroughly presented. What makes this case study interesting is the unusual structural system of the building, which is an ingenious combination of frame elements and lightly reinforced concrete walls and its behaviour to one of the strongest recent Greek earthquakes. The rehabilitation study had to model correctly the structure and propose interventions that were in agreement with the architectural demands and the cost consideration.</p>

Download Full-text