Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. II
Written by Claudiu-Sorin DRAGOMIR, Serban PURDOIU, Augustina-Sandina TRONAC, Sorin-Mihai CIMPEANU1 Roxana-Dana BUCUR
All European countries are rich of pre-code buildings and there is also a considerable number of residential masonry buildings in the rural areas. In Romania, where over 60% of the territory and population are exposed to the Vrancea earthquakes, there are many pre-code reinforced concrete and masonry buildings. This type of buildings should be strengthened in accordance with the European and National Codes in force (EC8-Part 3 and P100- Part 3). According to paragraph 2.2.4., the ”additional measures” of the Code of Building Seismic Design, indicative P100-1:2006, it is recommended to investigate the buildings with recording equipment for the seismic action parameters. The objective of the paper is to present a series of non-destructive methods used to assess damages of an educational building in Bucharest. The non-destructive testing of the concrete structures yields valuable information for the engineers when investigating problems and can reveal unanticipated or hidden damages. The repair of the structure is guided by the results of the testing. The building presented in the paper was designed as masonry structure with reinforced concrete cores and erected during 1950s with BS+GF+3storey height regime. In accordance with the technical report, building damages were evaluated. For this purpose, non-destructive and seismic instrumentation methods were used. Nondestructive methods are based on auscultation, ultrasound and percussion with Schmidt hammer, and the seismic instrumentation methods are based on the GEODAS-12USB equipment with adequate software. Evaluations are useful for both the seismic risk analysis of the inspected building and the design of the strengthening interventions. The prevention or determination of the earthquake effects was done by practical measures. It was understood that the increase in mass and stiffness was not always beneficial. The role of geometry was equally important in earthquake engineering and there were cases when reshaping might prove advantageous, especially when using advanced technologies available on the European market.
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educational building
