• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-35
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• 2015

This study compares the seismic performances of two reinforced concrete frame specimens tested by the pseudo-dynamic procedure. The pair of 3-storey, 3-bay frames specimens are constructed with typical characteristics of older construction which is lacking seismic design. One of the specimens is a bare frame while the other is infilled with low-strength autoclave aerated concrete (AAC) block masonry. The focus of this study is to investigate the influence of low strength masonry infill walls on the seismic response of older RC frames designed for gravity loads. It is found that the presence of weak infill walls considerably reduce deformations and damage in the upper stories while their influence at the critical ground story is not all that positive. Infill walls tend to localize damage at the critical story due to a peculiar frame-infill interaction, and impose larger internal force and deformation demands on the columns and beams bounding the infills. Therefore the general belief in earthquake engineering that infills develop a second line of defence against lateral forces in seismically deficient frames is nullified in case of low-strength infill walls in the presented experimental research.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1273-1290
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• 2015

JK wall is a shear wall made of lightweight EPS mortar and reinforced with a 3-D galvanized steel mesh, called JK panel, and truss-like stiffeners, called JK stiffeners. Earlier studies have shown that low strength lightweight concrete has the potential to be used in structural elements. In this study, seismic contribution of the JK infill walls surrounded by steel frames is numerically investigated. Adopting a hybrid numerical model, behavior envelop of the wall is derived from the general purpose finite element software, Abaqus. Obtained backbone would be implemented in the professional analytical software, SAP2000, in which through calibrated hysteretic parameters, cyclic behavior of the JK infill can be simulated. Through comparison with earlier experimental results, it turned out that the proposed hybrid modeling can simulate monotonic and cyclic behavior of JK walls with good accuracy. JK infills have a panel-type configuration which their dominant failure mode would be ductile in flexure. Finally technical and economical advantages of the proposed JK infills are assessed for two representative multistory buildings. It is revealed that JK infills can reduce maximum inter-story drifts as well as residual drifts at the expense of minor increase in the developed base shear.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.469-486
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• 2006

The main objective of this study was to investigate the seismic behavior of damaged reinforced concrete frames rehabilitated by introducing cast in place reinforced concrete infills. Four bare and five infilled frames were constructed and tested. Each specimen consisted of two (twin) 1/3-scale, one-bay and two-story reinforced concrete frames. Test specimens were tested under reversed-cyclic lateral loading until considerable damage occurred. RC infills were then introduced to the damaged specimens. One bare specimen was infilled without being subjected to any damage. All infilled frames were then tested under reversed-cyclic lateral loading until failure. While some of the test frames were detailed properly according to the current Turkish seismic code, others were built with the common deficiencies observed in existing residential buildings. The variables investigated were the effects of the damage level and deficiencies in the bare frame on the seismic behavior of the infilled frame. The deficiencies in the frame were; low concrete strength, inadequate confinement at member ends, 90 degree hooks in column and beam ties and inadequate length of lapped splices in column longitudinal bars made above the floor levels. Test results revealed that both the lateral strength and lateral stiffness increased significantly with the introduction of reinforced concrete infills even when the frame had the deficiencies mentioned above. The deficiency which affected the behavior of infilled frames most adversely was the presence of lap splices in column longitudinal reinforcement.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.173-181
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• 2015

In this study, material tests were performed on the masonry specimens constructed with bricks and mortar used in Korea. The specimens included two types of thickness(0.5B and 1.0B) and physical conditions (good and poor). It was shown that 1.0B specimens have 3.2~1.8 times larger shear strength than 0.5B specimens and shear strength of specimens in poor condition was 66%~38% of those in good condition. Average shear stress of masonry-infills was calculated from previous experimental studies, and relationships with failure mode, material strength of masonry, aspect ratio, and frame-to-infill strength ratio were investigated. In addition, the effects of masonry strength on the seismic performance of a masonry-infilled frame was studied using a simple example building. It can be seen that the obtained average shear stress were considerably higher than the default masonry shear strength recommended by the ASCE 41, and low values the strength of masonry does not guarantee conservative evaluation results due to the early shear failure of frame members.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.153-164
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• 1999

The objective of this research is to observe the actual response of a low-rise nonseismic moment-resisting masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frame subjected to varied levels of earthquake ground motions. The reduction scale for the model was determined as 1 : 5 considering the capacity of the shaking table to be used. This model was, then, subjected to the shaking table motions simulating Taft N2IE component earthquake ground motion, whose peak ground acceleration(PGA) was modified to 0.12g, 0.2g, 0.3g, and 0.4g. The g1oba1 behavior and failure mode were observed. The lateral accelerations and displacements at each story and local deformations at the critical portions of the structure were measured. Before and after each earthquake simulation test, free vibration tests and white noise tests were performed to find the changes in the natural period of the model. When the results of the masonry-infilled frame are compared with those of the bare frame, it can be recognized that masonry infills contribute to the large increase in the stiffness and strength of the g1oba1 structure whereas it also accompanies the increase of earthquake inertia forces. However, it is judged that masonry infills may be beneficial to the performance of the structure since the rate of increase in strength appears to be greater than that of the induced earthquake inertia forces.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.197-207
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• 2013

The seismic performance of school buildings has been a matter of common interest socially and academically. The structural system of the school buildings is representative of the domestic low-rise reinforced concrete moment resisting frames, which apply extensively infills in their masonry walls. The masonry infilled walls are divided into full masonry infill in the transverse direction and partial masonry infill in the longitudinal direction. The masonry infilled walls are usually not included in structural analysis during the design process, but affect significantly the seismic performance because they behave with surrounding frames simultaneously during earthquakes. Many researchers have studied the effect of the masonry infilled walls, but several issues have been missed such as the increase of asymmetry by adding the full masonry infill, the size of the mean strength of the full masonry infill, and short column effect by the partial masonry infill. The issues were analytically investigated and the results showed that they should be checked at least by nonlinear pushover analysis in the seismic performance evaluation process. The results also confirm the weakness of the guideline of Korean Educational Development Institute where the seismic performance is basically assessed without structural analysis.