Enhancing seismic safety of existing rc buildings through external exoskeletons

Catastrophic earthquakes in the past decades have highlighted the vulnerability of Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings built in the absence of modern codes. For this reason, a research effort has been dedicat-ed to the development of local as well as global external low-invasive interventions (exoskeleton-type) for the seismic retrofit of buildings. In this work, with reference to a case study RC building, alternative retrofit options have been implemented and compared in terms of safety index (IS-V) as well as eco-nomic index (Perdite Annue Medie, PAM, or Expected Annual Losses, EAL). Results confirm that external exoskeletons allow for an enhanced safety as well as a reduction of expected losses, in addition to a limited users’ disruption.