Seismic upgrading of existing RC frames with displacement-restraint cable bracing

•Investigate the behavior of a cost-effective and easy-to-install displacement-restraint cable bracing technique (cable-cylinder) for seismic upgrading of RC frames.•Compare the seismic response of RC frames with conventional X-cable and cable-cylinder bracing to shed light on their different performance.•Use the lump-plasticity approach to model the moment-resisting frames in FE software.•Use FEMA P695 far-field record set to conduct nonlinear time-history analyses and assess the nonlinear behavior of models.•Assess the performance of the original and upgraded frames in terms of inter-story drift, column shear/axial force, and base shear demand. Cable braces are widely used for seismically upgrading existing frames due to the significant strength, stiffness, and superior economy. This study investigates the behavior of a cost-effective and easy-to-install displacement-restraint cable bracing technique (cable-cylinder) for seismic upgrading of RC frames. To this aim, a set of 4, 8, and 12-story RC Intermediate Moment Frames (IMFs) with low-stiffness plastic cylinders were considered. The following archetypes were studied: (OF): the Original Frame only, (CB): refers to adding conventional Cable Braces, and (CCB): represents the models with the Cable Cylinder Braces. Opensees software with lump-plasticity approach was employed to model the moment-resisting frames. To investigate the seismic performance, time history analysis was conducted including 22 pairs of far-field ground motion records from FEMA P695. The results reveal that CCB systems show an almost similar drift pattern with CB frames, especially in the 12-story frame. In general, adding cable cylinder braces has increased the first-story column shear more than regular cable braces, especially in the 4-story frame. However, the maximum compression force of the adjacent column was lowered in the CCB frames than that of the CB models. The base shear force was improved notably in CB frames, while the CCB system had relatively identical base shear demand to the OFs.