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Applied Sciences
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High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications
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High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2024) | Viewed by 9466

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Raffaele Pucinotti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanics and Materials, University of Reggio Calabria, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Interests: structural reliability; new buildings; existing buildings; structural safety; retrofit
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The structural reliability of buildings is a topic that is encountered on a daily basis. The reliability of buildings comprises the practices of designing, constructing, operating and maintaining them in order to ensure their functionality, especially following events that alter their state of health. Monitoring new buildings and monitoring and improving existing buildings are increasingly important practices; for most existing buildings, their design life has been reached or will be reached in the near future. For this reason, buildings must be appropriately evaluated (in the case of new constructions) and re-evaluated (in the case of extant buildings) by designers; hence, an high reliability must be guaranteed with innovative monitoring techniques and new design philosophies. Cost–benefit analysis procedures, reflecting the life cycle of retrofitting solutions, are simple. However, determining the parameters necessary to perform such analyses is difficult, requiring considerable engineering expertise. Such parameters include the annual probability of ground movements, damage to the structure before and after retrofitting, accident rates, and the extent of building downtime.

Dr. Raffaele Pucinotti
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3264 KiB  
Article
Estimation of the Ultimate Strength of FRP Strips-to-Masonry Substrates Bond
by Reza Kamgar, Houman Ebrahimpour Komleh, Anna Jakubczyk-Gałczyńska and Robert Jankowski
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(12), 6955; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13126955 - 08 Jun 2023
Viewed by 801
Abstract
Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP) were developed as a new method over the past decades due to their many beneficial mechanical properties, and they are commonly applied to strengthen masonry structures. In this paper, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), K-fold Cross-Validation (KFCV) technique, Multivariate Adaptive [...] Read more.
Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP) were developed as a new method over the past decades due to their many beneficial mechanical properties, and they are commonly applied to strengthen masonry structures. In this paper, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), K-fold Cross-Validation (KFCV) technique, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS) method, and M5 Model Tree (M5MT) method were utilized to predict the ultimate strength of FRP strips applied on masonry substrates. The results obtained via ANN, KFCV, MARS, and M5MT were compared with the existing models. The results clearly indicate that the considered approaches have better efficiency and higher precision compared to the models available in the literature. The correlation coefficient values for the considered models (i.e., ANN, KFCV, MARS, and M5MT) are promising results, with up to 99% reliability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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18 pages, 3793 KiB  
Article
Knowledge-Based Investigation of Seismic Vulnerability Assessment and Compatible Strengthening Design of an Existing Masonry Building
by Maria Teresa Cristofaro and Marco Tanganelli
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 6093; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13106093 - 16 May 2023
Viewed by 895
Abstract
Most existing masonry buildings were built without following code regulations for seismic criteria. Hence, their performance compared to the demands of the current codes, for both seismic and static actions, could be very low. In engineering practice, strengthening interventions can be pursued at [...] Read more.
Most existing masonry buildings were built without following code regulations for seismic criteria. Hence, their performance compared to the demands of the current codes, for both seismic and static actions, could be very low. In engineering practice, strengthening interventions can be pursued at different levels, based on qualitative assessments of masonry structures. Firstly, the structures are evaluated through in situ inspections. Then, based on the structural system of the building a strengthening design is proposed. The design can be targeted at guaranteeing a box behavior of structures acting through macro-elements, or at strengthening the in-plane capacity of piers and spandrels. However, lower cognitive levels may drive inaccurate impressions about the capacity of structures, leading to unreliable strengthening solutions. While in some cases the confidence factor could underestimate the effects of the reinforcements, in other cases lower knowledge levels could lead to incorrect reinforcements that do not provide helpful solutions. In this paper, the issues concerning the strengthening design of masonry structures are presented and discussed with regard to an existing building. The construction is a 20th century masonry building used as a nursing home for elderly persons. The study follows a knowledge-based procedure where, after achievement of the highest knowledge level and the proposal of compatible and effective strengthening interventions, the analysis of the potential effects of achieving lower knowledge levels is discussed both in terms of vulnerability computations and in terms of strengthening effectiveness. Regarding vulnerability assessment, a lower knowledge level leads to non-conservative results, with an increase in the estimated capacity of around 80%. Critical evaluation of the different configurations for the case study makes it clear that for the considered masonry building the mortar investigation represented the most important parameter to be investigated. The proposal of strengthening interventions before assessment of this parameter may lead to ineffective improvements resulting in index values lower than 0.60. The study represents the opportunity to assess comparisons in the setting of different investigation strategies and their effect on the definition of the strengthening solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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25 pages, 5765 KiB  
Article
Concrete Beams Reinforced with High Strength Rebar in Combination with External Steel Tape
by Taras Bobalo, Yaroslav Blikharskyy, Jacek Selejdak, Nadiia Kopiika and Zinoviy Blikharskyy
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 4528; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074528 - 03 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2097
Abstract
The use of combined reinforcement in the form of external S275 steel tape and A1000 high-strength rebar is generally interesting for research. The use of a package of reinforcement enables a better choice of a rational cross-section area of reinforcement by varying the [...] Read more.
The use of combined reinforcement in the form of external S275 steel tape and A1000 high-strength rebar is generally interesting for research. The use of a package of reinforcement enables a better choice of a rational cross-section area of reinforcement by varying the rebar diameter or the width of the steel tape. In addition, an interesting issue for research is the limit strain values of reinforcement of different strength classes since they can differ significantly, which affects the operation of the structure as a whole. For structures with combined reinforcement, there is still the number of issues not studied yet: for example, the stages of inclusion in the work of reinforcement and the magnitude of forces perceived by particular type of the reinforcement, the process and reasons for the destruction of experimental samples, the feasibility of such reinforcement, and the effect of high-strength rebar on the strength and deformability of reinforced concrete structures. Given that the issue of combined reinforcement is not sufficiently studied, the main task of the study was to investigate the stress–strain state of reinforced concrete beams with combined reinforcement (high-strength A1000 steel bars in combination with external S275 steel tape) in more detail. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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17 pages, 10622 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation on Innovative Stress Sensors for Existing Masonry Structures Monitoring
by Lidia La Mendola, Maria Concetta Oddo, Calogero Cucchiara, Michele Fabio Granata, Simone Barile, Francesco Pappalardo and Agatino Pennisi
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3712; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063712 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 782
Abstract
Historical masonry structures often suffer gradual deterioration that in many cases can compromise the safety levels and the operating conditions of the buildings. In this context, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an effective tool for the prediction of the structural behaviour and the [...] Read more.
Historical masonry structures often suffer gradual deterioration that in many cases can compromise the safety levels and the operating conditions of the buildings. In this context, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an effective tool for the prediction of the structural behaviour and the state of conservation of buildings. Although many monitoring systems have recently been proposed, there is a lack of practical application of low-cost systems. This paper presents an experimental study based on the use of two innovative stress sensors—capacitive stress sensor and ceramic stress sensor—for the monitoring of existing masonry elements. In order to reproduce the actual conditions of onsite masonry, sensors are post-installed in the mortar joints of two series of pre-stressed specimens made of calcarenite stone masonry and clay brick masonry. The best practice of post-installation of the two sensors is investigated. The reliability of the proposed sensors is evaluated through comparison with data recorded from classical measurement devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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25 pages, 3843 KiB  
Article
An Artificial Network-Based Prediction of Key Reference Zones on Axial Stress–Strain Curves of FRP-Confined Concrete
by Ali Fallah Pour and Aliakbar Gholampour
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3038; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053038 - 27 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1095
Abstract
The accurate prediction of reference points on the axial stress–axial strain relationship of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete is vital to pre-design structures made with this system. This study uses an artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting hoop rupture strain (εh,rup) [...] Read more.
The accurate prediction of reference points on the axial stress–axial strain relationship of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)-confined concrete is vital to pre-design structures made with this system. This study uses an artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting hoop rupture strain (εh,rup) and transition zone, namely transition strain (εc1) and stress (f’c1), on axial stress–strain curves of FRP-confined concrete. These are key parameters for estimating a transition zone of stress–strain curves. In this study, accompanied with these parameters, ultimate condition parameters, including compressive strength and ultimate axial strain, were predicted using a comprehensive database. Various combinations of input data and ANN parameters were used to increase the accuracy of the predictions. A sensitivity analysis and a model validation assessment were performed to evaluate the predictability of the developed models. At the end, a comparison between the proposed models in this study and existing ANN and design-oriented models was presented. It is shown that the accuracy of the developed ANN models in this study is higher or comparable to that of existing ANN models. Additionally, the developed models in this study to predict f’c1 and εc1 exhibit a higher accuracy compared to existing design-oriented models. These results indicate that the proposed ANN models capture the lateral confinement effect on ultimate and transition zones of FRP-confined concrete with a more robust performance compared to existing models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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21 pages, 11290 KiB  
Article
Seismic Isolation Devices for Protecting RC Buildings: The Frangipane School in Reggio Calabria
by Raffaele Pucinotti, Rita A. De Lorenzo and Chiara Bedon
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12894; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412894 - 15 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1238
Abstract
Seismic isolation devices, as known, are particularly efficient tools for the protection of newly designed or existing buildings and infrastructures and for the mitigation of maximum effects due to earthquakes. The highest is the vulnerability of a given existing construction, and the higher [...] Read more.
Seismic isolation devices, as known, are particularly efficient tools for the protection of newly designed or existing buildings and infrastructures and for the mitigation of maximum effects due to earthquakes. The highest is the vulnerability of a given existing construction, and the higher is the benefit in structural terms due to a possible retrofit intervention based on base isolation. This is especially the case of reinforced concrete (RC) building frames built in the 1960s in the Italian context and originally designed with a code of the first generation (“Regio Decreto Legge 25 Marzo 1935, n. 640”) in a city characterized by a long history of severe earthquakes (as the Reggio Calabria and Messina earthquake in 1908), and thus recognized as highly seismic regions. In this paper, a case-study application is proposed for the Frangipane school constructed in Reggio Calabria (Italy) and recently subjected to a major renovation intervention for its retrofit against the high seismic hazard. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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13 pages, 4563 KiB  
Article
Retrofit of Existing Reinforced Concrete (RC) Buildings: Steel vs. RC Exoskeletons
by Rocco Buda, Chiara Bedon and Raffaele Pucinotti
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11511; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211511 - 13 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1742
Abstract
The existing building stock is largely made up of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, constructed between the post-World War II period and 1981, and mostly consists of buildings constructed very quickly to meet the great housing demand of this period, and buildings that do [...] Read more.
The existing building stock is largely made up of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, constructed between the post-World War II period and 1981, and mostly consists of buildings constructed very quickly to meet the great housing demand of this period, and buildings that do not adhere to anti-seismic and energy regulations. Today, after more than fifty years, these buildings have reached the end of their useful life cycle and their maintenance is not sustainable, presenting a series of structural, energy and architectural problems and criticalities. The myriad of possible retrofit interventions currently available for these RC structures drastically reduces when the main requirement for interventions is to avoid operational interruptions to buildings. In this case, an additive structure, operating exclusively from the outside as an exoskeleton, is typically used for achieving appropriate retrofit. In this paper, two solutions are proposed and addressed for the retrofit of an existing RC building in Italy, one through the application of a steel exoskeleton and the other through the application of an RC exoskeleton system. A set of push-over (PO) analyses is carried out to define the performance point of both the original and combined systems. The comparative results of these solutions are then discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Reliability Building Structures: Retrofits, Designs and Applications)
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