A new damage factor for seismic assessment of deficient bare and FRP-retrofitted RC structures

The seismic assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures before and after retrofitting is a challenging task, mainly because existing numerical tools cannot accurately model the evolution damage. This article proposes an innovative method suitable to assess ultimate carrying capacity RC structures. modelling approach steel constitutive material with damage factor that accounts for accumulated within surrounding domain, which effectively captures bar slippage. proposed validated experimental results from full-scale cyclic tests on deficient bare CFRP-retrofitted joints tested previously by authors. indicate simulation extreme nonlinearities observed in joints, acceptable accuracy computational robustness. this study are expected contribute towards development more reliable design guidelines efficient earthquakes.