Retrofit Solutions Project Overview
Acknowledging the lack of national platform of knowledge and expertise associated with seismic retrofit or rehabilitation of the nation’s multi-storey buildings, a co-jointed research programme, funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Techonlogy (FRST) New Zealand was established at the University of Auckland and the University of Canterbury.
This research programme provides solutions addressing the comparative absence of a national platform of knowledge and expertise associated with seismic retrofit or rehabilitation of the nation’s multi-storey buildings. This will be achieved through two research objectives that define retrofit solutions for building classes differentiated by their age and construction materials.
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Objective 1: Retrofit solutions for post 1970s RC buildings
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Objective 2: Retrofit solutions for pre-1970s buildings
Read more in The Structural Engineer (IStructE)
The research project is sub-divided into several research cluster, encompassing several multi-disciplinary research focuses:
Retrofit Decision Making Tools
Unreinforced Masonry
Pre-1970s Reinforced Concrete
Post-1970s Reinforced Concrete
Steel & Composite
Substructure & Foundation
Retrofit Solutions Project Organisation
The project is led by two principal investigators - Dr Jason Ingham of University of Auckland and Dr Stefano Pampanin of University of Canterbury. In addition, two Objective Leaders (Prof Des Bull - Objective 1 & Dr Stefano Pampanin - Objective 2) will be coordinating the research within the two research objectives. A secondary research task (3) - Retrofit financial analysis, was added to the project, led by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson.
An industry advisory board (Seismic Retrofit Research Board) was formed under the leadership of SESOC (Structural Engineering Society of New Zealand) to provide guidance to the research team in identifying the priorities and needs for seismic retrofit research attention.
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Left: Typical multi-storey reinforced concrete frame structure with non-ductile detailling and design. This particular example was built in 1950s. Picture credit: WY Kam.
Right: Typical low-rise unreinforced masonry structure, predominantly built prior to 1930s. Picture Credit: A. Russell.