Retrofitting of vulnerable reinforced concrete frames with wet-mixed shotcrete panels

In this paper, wet-mixed shotcrete panels are proposed instead of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls for the retrofitting of vulnerable RC frames. The general behavior of the retrofitted frames responding in-plane lateral loading is investigated in detail. The experimental work is composed of retrofitting of undamaged and damaged RC frames. Nearly 1/2 scale, one bay and one story specimens were tested under external loads simulating earthquake effects. To assess the effectiveness of the technique, the results of the retrofitted frames were also compared with a bare frame's and a conventional shear wall retrofitted frame's. The experimental study shows that the wet-mixed shotcrete panels added to vulnerable RC buildings increases the lateral load carrying capacity, the lateral rigidity and the energy dissipation capacity of the system. It is considered that the technique can be used as an efficient, practical and cost effective method in retrofitting of existing vulnerable RC buildings.