Seismic Assessment and Retrofitting of a Heritage Brick Masonry Building Using FRP

Abstract

Uttarakhand in the foothills of Himalayas is considered to be one of the most tectonically active regions of northern India as it had experienced several destructive earthquakes such as Pithoragarh (1980), Uttarkashi (1991), Chamoli (1999) and Gopeshwar (2005). The state of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) being the center of activity during British regime is having numerous historical brick masonry structures such as churches, missionaries, hospitals, administrative building and educational institutions required to be safeguarded against catastrophic future earthquakes. One such building: Forest Research Institute Dehradun which suffered extensive damages during the Uttarkashi earthquake has been considered for seismic vulnerability assessment and achieving a generalized retrofitting strategy for the region which can be extrapolated globally. Structural assessment by non-linear static analysis has been carried out for FRP retrofitted and an un-retrofitted building using FEM. Different types of FRP has been modeled numerically as wrapped around the piers of huge brick masonry structure and analyzed under site specific earthquake loading which reported in an improved performance of strengthened structure.