Gravity-load designed RC buildings with open ground-story are generally considered as seismic-deficient in terms of lateral strength, stiffness, drift capacity, and energy dissipation potential. This paper evaluates effectiveness of two strengthening techniques involving external steel cage for strengthening of ground-story columns and aluminum shear panels for dissipation of seismic energy. A performance-based method is developed to design various elements of the proposed strengthening schemes, based on balancing the input energy due to earthquakes to the energy dissipated through plastic hinges and aluminum panels for a target yield mechanism. Nonlinear static and time-history analyses of strengthened frames verified excellent seismic performance of strengthened frame in terms of enhanced lateral strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation and reduced damages in RC frame members under selected ground motions.
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