ABSTRACT

In recent years great developments have been made in the assessment of existing
buildings and their performance in resistance to earthquake loading, potential seismic risk,
vulnerability and lateral loads. Existing buildings can be repaired and strengthened to include
new developments and methods to resist earthquake and seismic loads, which is the most
economical way to safeguard against the economic and social catastrophe affected by
severe seismic activity in urban environments.

In Kathmandu there are huge stock of RC buildings that had been constructed with 9” x 12”
pillar size and do not meet the lateral strength requirements of current seismic codes and are
vulnerable to significant damage or collapse in the event of future earthquakes. In the past few
years especially after the Gorkha Earthquake, concrete column jacketing has become
increasingly popular retrofitting technique to improve the strength and the stiffness of existing
structures. Hence the study includes the detail evaluation of the typical RC building based on the
available standards and guidelines relating to the seismic evaluation RC buildings.

This thesis presents a case study of a typical three and half- storey RC Building
constructed with the pillar size of 9”x 12” that has been designed and municipal sanctioned five
years ago. The building is located at the Kirtipur, Kathmandu. This study consists of three
stages: Preliminary evaluation (data collection configuration and strength related checks)
detailed evaluation by linear static analysis along with nonlinear static analysis (Pushover
Analysis) and Conceptual Retrofit Design of reinforced concrete jacketing of columns.