Minimal-disturbance seismic rehabilitation of steel moment-resisting frames using light-weight steel elements

This paper presents a rehabilitation technique developed under a design and construction scheme, termed minimal-disturbance seismic rehabilitation. This scheme pursues enhancing the seismic performance of buildings with the intention of improving the continuity of business while minimizing obstruction of the visual and physical space of building users and the use of heavy construction equipment and hot work (welding/cutting). The developed rehabilitation technique consists of light-weight steel elements and aims to decrease demands to beam-ends of steel moment-resisting frames. The behavior of the baseline model was verified through numerical analysis and proof-of-concept testing. Furthermore, the effectiveness of rehabilitation is studied through retrofitting a four-story steel moment-resisting frame originally designed with Japanese design guidelines.