Seismic Assessment and Reinforcement of an Existing Industrial Platform

Project Challenge

Changes to the supported equipment or operating configuration increased the total mass acting on the platform.

At the same time, the updated design conditions resulted in higher seismic forces.

The existing structure therefore needed to be reassessed to determine:

• whether the original members remained adequate
• how the increased mass affected seismic actions
• which connections required additional verification
• where reinforcement could be introduced effectively
• how the structure's lateral stability could be improved

Assessment of the Existing Structure

Arcus Engineering developed or updated the structural model to represent the constructed platform and the revised loading conditions.

The assessment included:

• existing member capacity
• global stability
• increased gravity loads
• updated seismic effects
• lateral deformation
• connection forces
• identification of critical structural areas

Reinforcement Solution

Additional bracing elements were introduced to improve the platform's lateral stiffness and load-bearing capacity.

The reinforcement approach was developed to work with the existing structural system and address the increased seismic demand without requiring complete replacement of the platform.

Connection Verification

The existing and newly introduced connections were assessed under the updated force distribution.

This ensured that the new bracing system could transfer the required loads into the existing steel structure.