08-10-2014, 04:23 PM
Extensive earthquake damage to masonry structures, in the past earthquakes demand better understanding of the responses of such structures under lateral load. The large stock of these vulnerable buildings also indicates urgent need for effective and economic techniques to strengthen them. In the present study, a single-room, single-storey full-scale brick masonry building with Precast RC roofing system was tested thrice under displacement controlled lateral cyclic loading, to assess the effectiveness of the basic seismic repair and strengthening techniques. The in-plane diaphragm action offered by the Precast technologybased RC roofing system is also evaluated. A new strengthening technique was also introduced, and its effectiveness under lateral loading was evaluated. In the first attempt, the virgin building specimen was loaded laterally to failure. This damaged building was repaired by stitching across the cracks, and tested under the same lateral loading. The twice-damaged structure was repaired once more by stitching and strengthened by steel twin lintel belt and ve