Investigation and strengthening of existing reinforced concrete structure safety against earthquake

The performance of structures under dynamic influence is assessed according to the rules set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States. The Turkish Earthquake Code which was revised in parallel with FEMA-356, provide a design based on earthquake resistance in newly constructed buildings. The main theme of this design is that the carrier and non-carrier system components are not damaged in mild severe earthquakes and the damage must be remains repairable in medium severity earthquakes. İn case of severe earthquakes the purpose of this design is to limit the occurrence of permanent damage to ensure safety of life. Strengthening includes operations to improve earthquake safety of buildings. Strengthening of the building may be necessary for two main reasons. The first of these is the need to increase safety due to an earthquake-related damage. The second is to determine that the building is not durable against an earthquake even if there is no damage in the building. In both cases, strengthening studies should be applied to increase the building's earthquake safety to the targeted level. In particular, it is necessary to know whether the structures to be used primarily (hospital, school, etc.) after the earthquake are safe and how these structures are performing at the moment of an earthquake. In this study, it was aimed to control the safety of the existing structures against the earthquake and projects of strengthening work have been carried out where it is necessary thus, to prevent any loss of life and property that can potentially experienced in the future.