Seismic Adjustment and Structural Reinforcements

Icomet Costruzioni Metalliche , with its metal carpentry , deals among its services, seismic adaptation interventions and reinforcement of existing structures.

WHAT IS SEISMIC ADJUSTMENT?

We mean all those changes to existing buildings in order to make them more resistant to seismic action.

With a better understanding of the effects of earthquakes on structures and recent events, the need for anti-seismic retrofitting of many existing structures is recognized.

For the seismic adaptation of an existing building, it is necessary to refer to the Ministerial Decree of 14 January 2008 (NTC08) which defines the principles for the design, execution and testing of buildings, addressing the problem of those already existing.

The NTC08 define the three different types of intervention that can be carried out:

• Adjustment interventions: aimed at achieving the safety levels required by the NTC;
• Improvement interventions to increase the existing structural safety without reaching the levels required by the NTC;
• Repairs or local interventions involving insulating elements and which in any case lead to an improvement of the pre-existing safety conditions.

WHEN DO YOU NEED A STRUCTURAL REINFORCEMENT?

During the useful life of the building it may happen that the load-bearing capacity of the structure is no longer adequate to perform the static and dynamic functions envisaged by the project or caused by changes in the intended use. The reasons can be:

• the degradation of the materials that constitute it, which can cause both the reduction of the resistant section and the worsening of the mechanical characteristics of the structure
• the change in the intended use of a building, which can cause unexpected overloading in the load-bearing elements
• unpredictable events such as subsidence of foundations, strong impacts, fires and earthquakes, which can cause localized or extensive damage to the entire building.