Influence of infilled masonry wall on vibration properties and dynamic responses of building structures to earthquake ground excitations

In analysis and design of structures to earthquake ground excitations, often only mass of the infilled masonrywalls are considered.Their stiffness and strength are neglected or only approximately considered by using equivalent brace elements. A number of empirical relations proposed by different researchers are available in the literature to derive the equivalent brace elements of infilled masonry walls. These empirical relations differ from each other. In this study, both experimental tests and numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the influence of infilled masonry wall on vibration properties and dynamic response and damage of RC frame structures to earthquake ground motions. The experimental test results will be used to calibrate the numerical models of RC frames with or without masonry infill. The calibrated numerical models are then used to perform a series of simulations of RC frames without or with masonry infill. The results are compared with those derived using equivalent brace members. The empirical formula of defining the equivalent brace members that leads to the best predictions of RC frame structures with masonry infill to earthquake ground excitations is identified

Seismic safety evaluation of reinforced concrete masonry infilled frames using macro modelling approach

Many reinforced concrete buildings have been built with masonry infill walls for architectural needs without considering their mechanical contribution. However, ignoring the structural influence of infills may lead to significant inaccuracies in the prediction of the actual seismic capabilities of the structure. Aiming at providing numerical tools suitable for engineering practice, simplified methodologies for predicting the nonlinear seismic behaviour of infilled frame structures (IFS) have been proposed, mostly considering the contribution of the infill as an equivalent diagonal strut element. In this paper, an alternative plane macro-element approach for the seismic assessment of IFS is proposed, validated and applied to a benchmark prototype building. The model validation is focused on recent experimental and numerical results that investigate the influence of non-structural infills, also in the presence of different openings layouts. As a benchmark investigation, a multi-storey plane frame prototype, for which the results of pseudo-dynamic tests are available, is investigated and compared to the results obtained by using a commonly adopted single-strut model. The merits and drawbacks of the considered numerical approaches are highlighted.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio