02.05.
Intelligent Energy Company
Seismic Retrofit
02.05
Seismic Retrofit
Activities in this field have the objective of making buildings more resistant to seismic events, that is, to the movement of the ground caused by earthquakes. Recent earthquakes in Italy have highlighted how fragile our territory and our buildings (whether historical or not) are; in fact, over 21 million inhabitants live in vulnerable areas and a large number of existing buildings are structurally inadequate to withstand the stresses caused by earthquakes. Our services include the retrofitting up to standard of existing buildings with:
- Seismic retrofitting, which is aimed to meet the safety levels required by the NTCs (Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni – Technical Standards for Construction)
- Anti-seismic upgrading, which improves existing structures, without necessarily reaching the levels required by the NTC
- Limited repairs or interventions, which improve pre-existing safety conditions.
SPECIALIZED TRAINING
GUARANTEED KNOW-HOW
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF CRITICALITIES
_ 001
REINFORCEMENT OF MASONRY
Many buildings in Italy, especially the older ones, are made of masonry, that is, single units of brick or stone laid and bound together with mortar. With time, the binder or the single units can be weakened due to the action of water and other atmospheric agents.
In addition, stone masonry tends to weaken due to the loss of mortar.
To strengthen them, mortar joints must be restored and the stones that tend to yield must be secured. We use various techniques to solve different problems, from the most common to the most complex:
- Strengthening of masonry and plaster with injections of mortar or epoxy resins
- Remediation of cracks or damage with carbon or steel bars
- Anchoring of wood covering structures to perimeter walls
- Wrapping and patching the brick wall with special fabrics to prevent bowing and tipping
- Restraining of walls with carbon fiber
- Structural reinforcement of walls and slabs with steel slats (CAM® system)
- Structural reinforcement of load-bearing walls using cladding with reinforced grout and/or fiber-reinforced plasters together with mesh made of resistant materials such as steel, fiberglass, carbon, aramidic materials or special plastics suitably anchored to the structures to be reinforced.
_ 002
REINFORCEMENT WITH CARBON FIBERS AND COMPOSITE MATERIALS
We use carbon fibers in many structural reinforcement operations because they are lightweight, resistant, thin and quick to apply.
We often use them in their fabric version, together with epoxy resins, to reinforce pillars, columns and walls. They are particularly suitable for retrofitting or anti-seismic upgrading, because they allow the structural loads to increase without increasing weight and volume.
_ 003
REINFORCEMENT OF WOODEN STRUCTURES
We can reinforce wood beams by applying carbon plates or fabric or by using pultruded carbon fiber plates to be inserted in slits made on the beams.
_ 004
REINFORCEMENT OF STEEL CONCRETE STRUCTURES
We strengthen reinforced concrete beams subjected to positive, negative, and shear forces with composite fiber plates. Pillars and columns can be reinforced and confined with fabric-based solutions. We also strengthen static load bearing connections between beams and pillars and consolidate them with overlapping elements or fabrics made of carbon fibers or suitably shaped pultruded materials.
Concrete slabs can be strengthened with a reinforcement of a few millimeters, easy to hide with a subsequent application of finishing plaster, so as to achieve a significant increase in the load bearing capacity of the structure in a non-invasive manner.
We are organized, solid, certified, and always ready to take on jobs at all levels.