Analytical investigation of effect of retrofit application using CFRP on seismic behavior of a monumental building at historical Cappadocia region of Turkey

This study focuses on analytical investigation of effect of seismic retrofit application using carbon fiber (CFRP) plates on seismic behavior of a monumental building constructed in historical Cappadocia region of Turkey. The investigated building is located at the town of Fertek which is two kilometers from the city of Nigde. It has been used as a worshipping temple since it was built in the year 1835. In addition to modal and response spectrum analysis, the building is subjected to ground motion records which were obtained during recent earthquakes in Turkey. These ground motions were recorded during Ceyhan earthquake (1998) which occured close to Nigde, Marmara earthquake (1999) and Duzce earthquake (1999). Furthermore, the building is exposed to static load combinations given in the Turkish Code. Seismic behavior of the monumental building both before and after the application of retrofitting using CFRP plates is investigated analytically. Carbon fiber (CFRP) retrofitting is applied at column and beam elements as surface coating of 0,5 cm and 1,0 cm thickness. The CFRP plates are applied at all convenient and available surfaces of column and beam elements. The analyses are conducted on the monumental building for the cases of with wall and without wall in order to consider the effect of structural walls on the seismic behavior of the building. In the light of the analytical results, expected level of structural damage of the retrofitted monumental building is examined within the scope of displacement based approach. It is observed that there is a stable decrease in maximum lateral drift demand upon application of CFRP retrofitting on the original building model.