FRICTION DAMPERS FOR SEISMIC UPGRADE OFST. VINCENT HOSPITAL, OTTAWA

摘要

St. Vincent Hospital comprises of five blocks of 5-storey concrete frame construction. One of the blocksis new construction and the other four blocks were built between 1890 and the early 1950's. Theearthquake resistance of the existing structures was significantly less than that required by the currentbuilding codes. Since hospitals are of post disaster importance, the engineers recommended that theexisting structures be upgraded along with the new expansion.Conventional methods of seismic rehabilitation with concrete shearwalls or rigid steel bracing were notconsidered suitable for this hospital as upgrades with these methods would have required expensive andtime consuming foundation work. Supplemental damping in conjunction with appropriate stiffness offeredan innovative and attractive solution for the seismic rehabilitation of this hospital. This was achieved byintroducing Pall Friction Dampers in steel bracing.