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PREFACE:

NATO Science for Peace Project 977231 entitled Seismic Analysis and Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings became operational in 2001 and was related to the seismic evaluation and retrofitting of existing buildings in Turkey and the Balkans. 

It was an ambitious project intended to transfer, adapt and implement and/or develop innovative technologies and methodologies for countries in this region – and, now that it has reached conclusion, appears to have fulfilled its task with great success.

 In fact, the achievements of this project were also given much prominence at the NATO Istanbul Summit attended by world leaders in June 2004. Many reports, proceedings and papers have been published as a result of the work conducted under this project.

 The project was launched with a ‘kick-off’ Workshop in Antalya in May 2001, where it was unanimously decided that as part of Subproject 4 named “Training and Dissemination of Results” the most important item apart from the production of suitable research publications and technical material in the area of the project was the organization of International [as well as national] Workshops to monitor the progress of the whole project and also the associated four subprojects. It was expected that formal submissions at such workshops would later be arranged to form part of the material to be published and disseminated from the project.

NATO Project SfP977231 has brought together leading research personalities in the area of earthquake engineering from several countries for brainstorming sessions, informal discussions, exchanges of ideas via e-mail and, of course, for more formal meetings and workshops. Very many people have given generously of their time and expertise, especially because the very name of the project strikes a responsive chord in all of us. Earthquakes tax engineering ingenuity – and buildings, in the form of houses and homes, are indisputably among the earliest engineering structures.

 Highlights of the NATO Project have included a NATO Science for Peace Workshop on Seismic Assessment and Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings organized in Izmir on 13 – 14 May 2003 with support from NATO and TUBITAK [The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey]. The 23 papers of the Workshop were published in the NATO Science Series as Vol. IV/29, and this book of 546 pages has received much attention from the engineering community in all NATO member and partner countries.

The present book contains the Proceedings of the Closing Workshop for Project SfP977231 which spanned the three day period 30 May – 1 June 2005 in Istanbul. The theme was chosen as Advances in Earthquake Engineering for Urban Risk Reduction in order to enable exchange of information, present intermediate analytical/ experimental/other results obtained and to provide a forum for technical discussions related to continuing work in each subproject.

 The application of state-of-the-art structural analysis and sophisticated experimental techniques for the understanding and mitigation of earthquake damage in order to save lives and property in future earthquakes has formed the core of this multi-national NATO project. Macro-assessment of the seismic safety of buildings in urban areas and cutting-edge rehabilitation methods such as epoxy-bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) as well as other ‘occupant friendly’ techniques such as infill strengthening with precast panels comprise important components of the project, and these show great promise for future applications.

Alcocer, Flores and Duran present the latest experimental evidence on the performance of rehabilitation techniques in Mexico, including methods suitable for masonry construction. Sugano provides comprehensive material on the techniques for the strengthening of RC buildings in Japan, mentioning, in particular, the landmark role played by the 1995 Kobe earthquake. 

The area of FRP [Fiber Reinforced Polymers] applications in strengthening is currently very popular, as indicated by the comprehensive work presented by Binici and Ozcebe, Bousias et al., Ilki et al., Ozden and Akguzel, and Yuksel et al.

 Ozdemir and Akyuz point out that the anchoring of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers to structural members and infills is often a weak link. They study the effects of concrete compressive strength, anchorage depth, anchorage diameter, and number of fibers on the tensile strength capacity of CFRP anchors.

 Saatcioglu adds his comprehensive treatment of the retrofitting of non-ductile RC columns to the above. Frosch comes up with an efficient use of precast infill walls for rehabilitation but draws special attention to the connections. Separately, Pinto and Taucer have tested deficient RC frames with and without infill panels The rehabilitation program included retrofitting of a bare frame using selective retrofitting techniques, strengthening of infill panels using shotcrete and retrofitting of frames using K-bracing with shear-link dissipators. Tankut et al. want to transform poorly performing hollow masonry infill walls by using them as filler materials for strong, portable precast concrete panels glued on both sides, which are also dowel connected to the frame members.