Seismic retrofit of frame structures using rocking wall system

An innovative seismic passive control system of rocking walls was introduced.Rocking walls are specially-detailed structural walls with finite rotating capacity at the base and large lateral stiffness.The rocking wall system is capable of controlling the lateral deformation pattern of the building structure and allows flexible arrangement of energy dissipation devices in order to increase the energy dissipation capacity of the building.Stiffness demand for the rocking wall was studied through nonlinear dynamic analysis of lumped mass model with vertically continuous components.An application of the rocking wall system to the seismic retrofit of an 11-story steel reinforced concrete frame was introduced.The seismic performances of the structure before and after the retrofit were compared through nonlinear dynamic analysis.Results show that the rocking wall system can significantly reduce the seismic responses to different earthquake ground motions as well as their dispersions.This makes the damage mechanism and the seismic performance of the retrofitted building more predictable.