RETROFITTING AND

STRENGTHENING OF STRUCTURES

Dr.P.Rathish Kumar
Department of Civil Engineering
NIT Warangal
RETROFITTING AND STRENGTHENING OF STRUCTURES

Strengthening for
1)Deficiencies due to erroneous design and detailing,
ageing, maintenance, environmental problems
2)Upgrading to higher load category
3)Adapt to code changes
 DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR STRENGTHENING
Active Repair
1)Existing members are upgraded to resist future and
present loads
2)Require temporary supports to remove the existing
stresses
3)Existing and newly applied system will jointly share
the loads
 DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR STRENGTHENING
Passive Repair
• Repairs do not participate in stress sharing unless
the additional live loads or dead loads or until
additional deformation occurs.
• For example a beam strengthened with steel plate
bonding will not carry loads until the beam
deflects.
PROCEDURE FOR STRENGTHENING
 STABILITY OF MASONRY WALLS
 Though some cracking noticed by and large
performance is ok because of large Safety factor
 Change of use
 Cutting a large opening
 Removal of certain floor
 Testing of brick but not much work done on brick
masonry
 Lintel provision
CLASSIFICATION OF STRENGTHENING
MEASURES
Repair of cracks
Re-pointing the joints with cement mortar

Application of reinforced cement coating on

one or both sides of the walls

Grouting with cement, modified cement or

epoxy grout
Prestressing the walls in vertical and horizontal

direction
Reconstruction of the most damaged parts of
the walls
 REPAIR OF CRACKS
Sealed with mortar if the crack width is about 10 mm,
and the wall thickness is relatively small

Injected with cement grout which contains admixtures

against shrinkage

Epoxy injection if the cracks are fine

Reconstruction using stitching bricks if the crack width

> 10 mm
 PROCEDURE FOR CRACK INJECTIONS
 Remove the damaged parts of the plaster

 Drill holes along the crack for inserting grout ports at

0.3 m to 0.6 m intervals

 Clean the wall surface, seal the cracks and fix the
port pipes with binding mortar

 Wash the cracks with water injection

 Prepare portland pozzolana mix (90 and 10 percent)

REPAIRING OF HEAVILY CRACKED BRICK
MASONRY WALL
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CENTRAL PART OF A
HEAVILY CRACKED
 RE-POINTING
– By re-pointing, the resistance of the wall can be
improved

– Remove the mortar upto 1/3 of wall thickness on

one or both sides

– Both the sides of a wall should not be cleaned

simultaneously to keep vertical stability

– Clean the surface and moistened with water jet

– Steel reinforcement is placed in the bed joints to

improve ductility and energy dissipation
 REINFORCED CEMENT COATING

BRICK MASONRY
 Applicable for seriously damaged brick and
brick masonry walls
 Also be used as a strengthening measure
wherever needed
 If reinforcing steel is to be used, the plaster is
removed
 Remove mortar in the joints to a depth of 10 to
15 mm
 REINFORCED CEMENT COATING
 Grout the cracks with cement/epoxy

 Clean the wall surface and moistened with water

 Spatter with cement slurry

 Apply a layer of cement mortar to a thickness of 10-

15 mm

 Place the reinforcing mesh and anchored with steel

anchors

 Apply second layer of cement mortar and see that

the total thickness should not exceed 30 mm
REINFORCED CEMENT COATING
 STONE MASONRY
 Remove plaster and loose stones

 Seal the cracks/inject with cement mortar/grout

 Place steel anchors of 6 to 8 mm diameter in either

side of wall, for anchoring the coating reinforcement

 Alternatively steel cages are used

STONE MASONRY
 GROUTING

 To fill the voids created during construction

 Ideal for strengthening historic monuments
 Avoid reconstruction or replacement of structural
elements
 For stone masonry, grouting will not provide the
required degree of improvement sometimes. Use of
modern materials such as concrete and steel can be
used.
 PRESTRESSING
 Vertical/horizontal prestressing improves the ultimate
load carrying capacity of a wall

 Drill holes through the central part of the wall at

uniform distances

 Steel tendons or bars are used

 Anchored on steel plates at ends

 Care should be taken to prevent loss of prestressing.

 RECONSTRUCTION
 Can be done for heavily damaged brick and
demolish the damaged portion and then
reconstruction

 Compatibility of material to be used should be seen

 Dimensional accuracy should be maintained for old

and new construction

 Special stitching units may be used if dimensional

accuracy is in doubt
 RECONSTRUCTION
 Metal clamps or connectors can be used to connect
the new and existing masonry
 Reinforced cement coating may also be adopted
 Bulged stone masonry walls need reconstruction
 Grout the rebuilt masonry wall to add integrity
 Transverse connections may be used for bulged
masonry walls

Reconstruction of a bulged stone-masonry wall

 IMPROVEMENT OF STRUCTURAL
INTEGRITY
 Tying of walls with steel ties

 Replacing, stiffening and anchoring of floors

 Strengthening of corners and wall intersection

zones

 Strengthening of walls by construction of vertical

confining elements
 TYING OF WALLS WITH TIES
Steel ties are inserted under the floor
Threaded ends of the ties are bolted and anchored on

steel plates
Ties are placed symmetrically on both sides of walls

Typical details of
anchoring and connecting
Position of steel ties in plan of a rural stone masonry house

Position of steel ties in elevation of a rural stone-masonry house

INTERVENTION IN FLOOR STRUCTURES
AND ROOF
 RC tie beams are used along structural wall at each
storey level
 Beams should connect the floors to the walls and tie
the structural system
 Prevent the out-of-plane vibration and collapse of
walls
 Bracing of a large span wooden floor with Metallic truss

Detail of anchoring of a wooden floor Into a stone masonry wall

Detail of anchoring of a new R.C slab into a stone masonry wall
REPAIR OF CORNERS AND WALL INTERSECTION ZONES
 Can be completely reconstructed
 Stone or metal stitching can also be done
 Can be combined with the construction of vertical
confining elements

Strengthening of the corner zone of a Stone masonry wall with

stone stitching
Strengthening of the corner zone of a stone masonry wall
with metal stitching
 STRENGTHENING OF WALL BY
CONFINEMENT
 Confining plain masonry walls with vertical confining
elements placed at all corners and wall intersections

 Improve the structural integrity

 Depth of tie columns should be equal to the

thickness of the wall and the width not less than 20
cm

 Reinforced bars placed into vertical channels cut into

the wall along the vertical joint of structural walls and
connected with masonry by stirrups

 The bars are anchored to the foundation

Anchoring of R.C coating at the corners and wall
intersections
Placement of new tie –columns in a brick masonry wall

Confining of brick masonry walls

LIMITING OPENING
STRENGTHENING BY CROSS WALLS
STRENGTHENING BY BUTTRESSES
CONNECTION OF BUTTRESSES WITH
EXISTING WALLS
 STRENGTHENING BY VERTICAL
REINFORCEMENT IN CORNERS AND
JUNCTIONS
STRENGTHENING OF ARCHES
STRENGTHENING OF ARCHES
STRENGTHENING OF FOUNDATIONS
 Strengthening Techniques- Section Enlargement
• Placement of additional concrete-Overlay, Jacket- Idea is to
increase the stiffness or load carrying capacity.
• Concrete added in tension face-Resistance against corrosion,
Concrete added in compression increased depth of section
increasing the strength and stiffness.
• Thickness of new concrete-Should be less than one third of
thickness of existing concrete.
• Adequate monolithic bond is important.
 Strengthening Techniques- Composite Construction

• Materials like Steel plates, FRP wraps,

precase/prefabricated elements-To increase
the load carrying capacity and stiffness
• Load Transfer-Adhesives, grouts and
mechanical anchorage systems
• Prefabricated elements-unloading first and
then stressing again to impart prestressing
force.
• Adequate bond is important- Epoxy resin
mortars
 Strengthening Techniques- Post Tensioning
• Effective method-RCC and PSC members.
• Ensures immediate and active load carrying capacity
• Application of active external forces to members using post
tensioned components. Usually jacking and preheating
• Tendons connected at anchor points and apply desired jacking
force.
• External Technique-Simple, possibility of replacing tendons,
ease of inspection, ability to relieve overstress.
• Sometimes needs to repair the original members
 Strengthening Techniques- Stress Reduction
• Reducing the dead loads and live loads.
• Replacing the heavy solid partition walls with
light weight partitions
• Enlarging the opening by removal of the filler
walls
• Reducing the number of storeys
• Changing the building use to a lower classification
of loading
• Cutting of the new expansion joints
• Jacking the displaced structures
• Installing the isolation bearings.
 Strengthening Techniques- Using Reinforcement

• Strengthening of tension zone by addition of

reinforcing steel
• Unloading, removing concrete cover,
anchoring, accommodating reinforcement and
then re-establish cover
• Additional of new reinforcing bars if more than
15-20% of the steel is corroded.
• Establishing joints to old ones by lapping
splices by welding or by coupling devices.
Flexural Strengthening of Beams-Adding New Members
• Additional Members are placed between the existing
beams (active repair) or along the sides(passive repair)
• Initially the new steel member is jacked so that the new
member can share the loads later.
• Tight connection between the steel beam and concrete slab
by means of dry packing.
• Staggered expansive bolts along the web
 Flexural Strengthening of Beams-Section Enlargement
• Adopted when addition of steel beams is not possible due
to requirements as fire, aesthetics etc
• Proper surface preparation and interconnection –
Composite system should not delaminate
• Disadvantages- Shrinkage, corrosion of new bars
• Use of non-shrink grouts, concrete with high tensile
resistance and preplaced aggregate concrete
 Flexural Strengthening of Beams- Span Shortening
• Beam is upgraded by shortening the design span.
• Installation of additional columns
• New columns requires footings and necessitates removal of
certain portion of floor slab
• Installation of diagonal braces from the base of the existing
columns to bottom of the beam.
• Loss of space
 Flexural Strengthening of Beams- Adding Bolted Steel
Tension reinforcement
• Addition of structural steel tension plates or built up members
bolted to beam
• Welded U-Bracket for additional steel- Passive repair
• Size and spacing of bolts-Forces needed to transfer from steel to
concrete by bolt bearing or shear
• Addition of two plates at top and bottom and connecting by bolting.
• Effective in increasing the load capacity and enhance flexural and
shear strength
Flexural Strengthening of Beams- Adding Bonded Steel
Plates
• Bonding of steel plates-Inexpensive, versatile and advanced
technique of rehabilitation.
• Involves gluing of plates with epoxy than drilling and bolting.
• Bonded to tension Zone- Flexural capacity and stiffness
• Side Plates-Shear strength.
• Steel plate installed at soffit- decreases deflection.
• Requires temporary shoring and erection anchors.
 Flexural Strengthening of Beams- Adding Bonded FRP
Plates and Wraps
• FRP wrapping on tension side or on side faces of the beam.
• CFRP wrapping more effective- superior strength, stiffness and
ductility
• FRP-High strength to weight ratio, easy installation, reduced cost of
labour, equipment and good durability
Flexural Strengthening of Beams- Post Tensioning
• External prestressing-Bridge rehabiltation
• Desired uplift force is provided by means of deviators-steel brackets
or saddles clamps seated at the soffit of the member being
upgraded.
Shear Strengthening of Beams- Addition of new stirrups
Steel Dowels or Adding Clamps
• U-Shaped bars in adhesive anchors are drilled vertically into the
bottom of the beam
• Drilling new stirrups in between the bottom bars
• Adding side plates and through bolting
 Strengthening of Slabs- Overlays and Underlays
• The addition of overlays and underlays helps to increase the
stiffness of the slab and reduce the excessive deflections.
• Additional dead load.
• Overlays –overcome negative moment deficiency.
• For interaction of existing concrete with new concrete, transfer of
shear stresses – shear keys
• Underlays- To overcome positive bending moment.
• Shotcrete followed for underlays
 Strengthening of Slabs- Bolted Steel plates
• Adding plates and bolting. CFRP and GFRP fabrics are used
• Epoxy primer applied with epoxy putty. Then a coat of resin
saturant is applied. Then fabrics are wrapped in layers.
• For shear stresses- Vertical bolts through slabs
 Strengthening of Columns-Section Enlargement
• Required for weaker concrete, lesser design loads, thinner sections
chosen before
• Encasing columns-increase load carrying capacity, enhances rigidity,
reduces slenderness
• Better to use pre-packed aggregate concrete with low shrinkage.
• Addition of new column- interconnection
 Strengthening of Structural Steel/Steel Jacketing
• Steel angles at corners and attaching with adhesives or
drilled in anchors.
• Enveloping the columns with steel plates.
• Shortening the length of columns
 Strengthening of Footings

• Original foundation is inadequate for

vertical/lateral loads
• Change in load path
• Additional load proposed for changes in occupancy
• Accommodate changes in existing structure
• High overturning forces due to quake or wind
• Deterioration due to aggressive environment
 Strengthening of Footings-Shoring
• Temporary support provided to the building above
foundation to avoid collapse during execution
• Inclined shoring includes raking shores at 60 to 75
degrees.
• Flying shores-Restraint against tilting
• Dead Shores-Supporting vertical load on walls
 Strengthening of Footings-Underpinning

• Underpinning- Temporary
or permanent supports to
existing foundations of
distressed building.
• Helps transfer load to a
greater depth
• Underpinning Piles-
individual or in groups
 Strengthening of Footings-Underpinning

• Micro Piles-Minipiles, needle, root piles- Can be installed

from ground surface without deep excavations-Better for
low headroom and restricted access
Strengthening of Footings-Pynford Stool Method and
angle Piling
Underpinning of Column-Jack Pile Method
 Strengthening of Footings-Increasing the bearing
area
• Additional reinforcement and connection with existing
concrete using dowels by drilling and epoxy grout
• Anchoring Jacket reinforcement-Drilling holes
• Extending column jacket at the top of the footing
providing full anchorage to longitudinal reinforcement.
• Soil Improvement- Cement grouting for coarse sand and
gravel and Chemical grouts for fine sand and coarse silts.
Thank you