This paper investigates the limits and efficacies of the Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) material for strengthening mid-rise RC buildings against seismic actions. Turkey, the region of the highest seismic risk in Europe, is chosen as the case-study country, the building stock of which consists in its vast majority of mid-rise RC residential and/or commercial buildings. Strengthening with traditional methods is usually applied in most projects, as ordinary construction materials and no specialized workmanship are required. However, in cases of tight time constraints, architectural limitations, durability issues or higher demand for ductile performance, FRP material is often opted for since the most recent Turkish Earthquake Code allows engineers to employ this advanced-technology product to overcome issues of inadequate ductility or shear capacity of existing RC buildings. The paper compares strengthening of a characteristically typical mid-rise Turkish RC building by two methods, i.e., traditional column jacketing and FRP strengthening, evaluating their effectiveness with respect to the requirements of the Turkish Earthquake Code. The effect of FRP confinement is explicitly taken into account in the numerical model, unlike the common procedure followed according to which the demand on un-strengthened members is established and then mere section analyses are employed to meet the additional demands.
The need of an adaptive sustainable solution for the increased land scarcity, growing urbanization, climate change and flood risks resulted in the concept of the floating urbanization. In The Netherlands this new type of housing attracted the interest of local authorities, municipalities and water boards. Moreover, plans to incorporate floating houses in the urban planning have already been developed. However, the knowledge gap regarding the potential effect on the water quality halts the further development of the floating houses. This paper shows the results of a water quality measurement campaign, as part of the national program “Knowledge for climate”, at a small floating houses project in Delft and serves as a case study for addressing the environmental-ecological knowledge gap on this topic.
The need of an adaptive sustainable solution for the increased land scarcity, growing urbanization, climate change and flood risks resulted in the concept of the floating urbanization. In The Netherlands this new type of housing attracted the interest of local authorities, municipalities and water boards. Moreover, plans to incorporate floating houses in the urban planning have already been developed. However, the knowledge gap regarding the potential effect on the water quality halts the further development of the floating houses. This paper shows the results of a water quality measurement campaign, as part of the national program “Knowledge for climate”, at a small floating houses project in Delft and serves as a case study for addressing the environmental-ecological knowledge gap on this topic.
