• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2019

The masonry infill walls are one of the most popular components that are used for dividing and arranging spaces in building construction. In spite of the fact that the masonry infills have many advantages, the system needs to be used with caution when the earthquake load is to be considered. The infills tend to develop diagonal compression struts during earthquake and increase the demand in surrounding RC frames. If there are openings in the infill walls, the loading path gets even complicated and the engineering judgements are required for designing the system. In this study, a masonry infill system was investigated through finite element analysis (FEA) and the results were compared with the current design standard, ASCE 41. It is noted that the equivalent width of the compression strut estimated by ASCE 41 could be 32% less than that using detailed FEA. The global load resisting capacity was also estimated by 28% less when ASCE 41 was used compare to the FEA case. Rather than using expensive FEA, the adapting ASCE 41 for the analysis and design of the masonry infills with openings would provide a good estimation by about 25% conservatively.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.205-214
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• 2010

Masonry structures have been used throughout the world for the construction of residential buildings. However, from a structural point of view, the masonry material is characterized by a very low tensile strength. Moreover, the bearing and shear capacity of masonry walls have been found to be vulnerable to earthquakes. In this study, to improve the seismic performance of masonry walls, hexagonal blocks were developed and six masonry walls made with hexagonal block were tested to failure under reversed cyclic lateral loading. This paper focuses on an experimental investigation of different types of wall with hexagonal blocks, i.e. walls with different hexagonal blocks and with different reinforcing bar arrangements, subjected to applied cyclic loads. The cracking, damage patterns and hysteretic feature were evaluated. Results from the hexagonal masonry wall were shown more damage reduction and less brittle failure in comparison to the existing rectangular masonry walls.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.493-502
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• 2022

In recent decades, infrastructural development has exploded, particularly in the coastal region of Saudi Arabia. The rising demand of most consumed aggregate in construction can be effectively compensated by the alternative material like scoria which lavishly exists in the western region. Scoria is characterized as lightweight aggregate beneficially used to develop lightweight concrete (LWC) - a potential alternative of normal weight concrete (NWC) ensuring reduction in the structural element's size, increase in building height, comparatively lighter foundation, etc. Hence, the goal of this study is to incorporate scoria-based structural lightweight concrete and evaluate its impact on superstructure and foundation design beside contributing to the economy of construction. Fresh, mechanical, and rheological properties of the novel LWC have been investigated. The structural analyses employ the NWC as well as LWC based structures under seismic and wind loadings. The commercial finite element package - ETABS was employed to find out the change in structural responses and foundations. The cost estimation and SWOT analysis for superstructure and foundation have also been carried out. It was revealed that the developed LWC enabled a more flexible structural design. Notable reduction in the steel and concrete prices of LWC might be possible in the low-rise building. It is postulated that the cost-effective and eco-friendly LWC will promote the usage of scoria as an effective alternative in Saudi Arabia and GCC countries for structurally viable LWC construction.