A Pattern for Retrofitting Unreinforced Brick Walls Using Steel Cable Technology

Iran is one of the most earthquake-stricken countries that has suffered numerous earthquakesand casualties. One of the reasons for the mortality of masonry buildings is the inappropriate
structure. One of the solutions is to retrofit and improve the structures of these buildings against the earthquake’s lateral force, which is less costly. Masonry buildings include a lot of buildings
in the world. These structures are of high weight, low strength, and low shapeability, and vulnerable to earthquake; so, they should be strengthened. The main purpose of retrofitting is to reduce the vulnerability of the building to earthquake damage. In many modern retrofitting methods, inappropriate interference with the structure and architecture, especially visually, remains in conflict with the existing architecture and a factor for reducing its value. The aim of this study is to develop a new method for seismic retrofitting for unreinforced brick walls. In this research, we tried to retrofit these buildings using the technology of steel cables with the priority of expressing architectural quality considerations and eliminating many of the disadvantages of the previous methods, as well as taking into account the requirements for strengthening and retrofitting with principles and rules of balance for the protection of architectural buildings. At the end of this method, the numerical calculations on the proposed brick wall have been analyzed. The results show that the shear strength and, as a result, its seismic resistance increased to the typical one