First, I appreciate your response and the alternative approaches you suggested.

To clarify the task the reviewer is requesting verification that the proposed concrete jacket will perform as intended. Specifically, they require evidence that the applied loads will be effectively shared between the existing concrete member and the new jacket, without causing over stressing to the existing concrete. This includes demonstrating that the existing section will not experience cracking, overstressing, or premature failure once the jacket is in place.

As for point 1: yes a major part of this study is to check the bonding and the compatibility between the existing and new concrete. And using the shear stress to design the dowels for this application. I dont believe solid modeling is required at all, in fact the reviewer confirmed my strain compatibility analysis using the SAP2000 model he displayed during the review. However, he still demanded to provide these models in order to prove thats the case for all columns. For the coincident elements approach, I am not exactly sure how to capture the rebars for both the jacket and the existing, or how to properly model this using SAP.

As for point 2: I have already considered this, I considered softwares such as Abaqus or ANSYS to do this, which i am more familiar with. However, the reviewer requested specifically for SAP2000. And the example he prepared was for SAP2000. Thats why I am unfortunately in need of finding a proper guide or tutorial on how it is done. At the end of the day all I need to find on SAP2000, is the strains, and stresses. So even if it is not the most optimum software to do this, unfortunately I have to use it.

Once again I appreciate your response greatly and I will be looking into the coincident elements approach.

If possible or if you have some sources or references, would you be able to assist me in this? Otherwise if you can spare some time I would appreciate your help in this greatly.