Ductile behavior of RC column reinforced with Velcro seismic reinforcement system (VSRS)

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on the seismic reinforcement system to improve the seismic performance of non-seismic designed RC columns. Velcro seismic reinforcement system (VSRS) was proposed as a seismic reinforcement system. The goal of the proposed VSRS that is consisted of Velcro and urethane filler is to improve both ductility and seismic performance of non-seismic designed RC columns. The proposed VSRS provides constant pressure on the RC column surface. The performance of the proposed VSRS was evaluated through experiments on non-seismic designed RC column specimens. Comparisons between experimental results of the RC column specimens are conducted in terms of ductile behavior and amount of hysteretic dissipated energy. Based on the experimental results, VSRS increased the ductility and hysteretic dissipated energy of the non-seismic designed RC column specimen.