Half-scale shaking table tests of two brick and wood buildings: Effect of the engineered cementitious composites strips retrofit system

In order to study the feasibility of using the retrofit system of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) strips for strengthening Chinese rural brick and wood structures. Two half-scale buildings, one was the unreinforced building and the other was reinforced by ECC strips, were placed on the shaking table to apply various levels of seismic excitations. The comparisons between the unreinforced building and the retrofit building were analyzed regarding the natural frequency, maximum responses of acceleration and displacement, as well as the dynamic characteristics, torsion effect, global hysteresis response, and seismic behavior evaluations. Test results demonstrated that the ECC strips retrofit system significantly enhanced the stiffness, ductility, damage tolerance, and reduced the seismic displacement response of the structure. Meanwhile, the retrofit building was able to dissipate more energy with increasing magnitudes of earthquake excitation. Such an in-depth analysis provides a reference for the application of ECC strips to retrofit brick and wood structures.