• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2016

In this study, finite element analyses of masonry infilled frames using a general purpose FE program, ABAQUS, were conducted. Analysis models consisted of the bare frame, infilled frames with masonry wall thickness of 0.5B and 1.0B, respectively. The masonry walls were constructed using the concrete bricks which were generally used in Korea as infilled wall. The material properties of frames and masonry for the analysis were obtained from material tests. However, four times increased the tensile strength was used for 1.0B wall, which is seemingly due to the differences in locating the bricks. The force-displacement relation and development of crack from the FE analysis were very similar to those from the experiments. From the FEA results, contact force between the frame and masonry, distribution of shear force and bending moments in frame members were analyzed. Obtained contact stress shows a trianglur distribution, and the contact length for 0.5B speciment and 1.0B specimen were close to the value estimated using ASCE 41-06 equation and ASCE 41-13 equation, respectively. Obtained shear force and bending moment distribution seems to replicate actual behavior which originates from the contact stress and gap between the frame and masonry.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2000

In many structures, the masonry infill panels have been used for architectural reasons and their influence on the structure is often ignored by engineers. However, it has been recognized that the presence of masonry infills may debates. Recently, the pushover analysis technique is used for the prediction of the inelastic behaviors of structures in the seismic evaluation of existing buildings. However, the reliability of this analysis method has not been fully checked with the test results, particularly in the case of masonry-infilled frames. The objective of this study is to verify the correlation between the experimental and analytical reponses of a high-rise masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frame using DRAIN-2DX program and the test results performed previously. It is concluded from this comparison that the strength and stiffness of members can be predicted with quite high reliability while the ductility capacity of members can not be described reasonably.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate experimentally the behavior of unreinforced masonry RC frames strengthened by CFRP sheet under cyclic lateral loading. Four test specimens were constructed as one-story, one-bay, 1/2 scale unreinforced masonry infilled RC frames and differences in strength and stiffness were evaluated in specimens on which had been applied different retrofitting methods. Test results indicated that the CFRP sheets significantly increased the strength and stiffness of the specimens, and the specimens retrofitted in columns and masonry indicated the most adequate retrofitting methods.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.6
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• pp.821-832
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• 2020

The fundamental period is an important parameter for seismic design and seismic risk assessment of building structures. In this paper, a simplified theoretical method to predict the fundamental period of masonry infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frame is developed based on the basic theory of engineering mechanics. The different configurations of the RC frame as well as masonry walls were taken into account in the developed method. The fundamental period of the infilled structure is calculated according to the integration of the lateral stiffness of the RC frame and masonry walls along the height. A correction coefficient is considered to control the error for the period estimation, and it is determined according to the multiple linear regression analysis. The corrected formula is verified by shaking table tests on two masonry infilled RC frame models, and the errors between the estimated and test period are 2.3% and 23.2%. Finally, a probability-based method is proposed for the corrected formula, and it allows the structural engineers to select an appropriate fundamental period with a certain safety redundancy. The proposed method can be quickly and flexibly used for prediction, and it can be hand-calculated and easily understood. Thus it would be a good choice in determining the fundamental period of RC frames infilled with masonry wall structures in engineering practice instead of the existing methods.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.201-215
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• 1998

The structural behavior of reinforced concrete frame infilled with a masonry wall is investigated by the method of discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). An interface element is developed and it is incorporated into DDA to analyze the continuous and discontinuous behavior of the masonry structure. The numerical results are compared with previous research and possess satisfactory agreement. Then the structural behavior and stress distribution of a reinforced concrete frame infilled with a masonry wall subjected to a horizontal force are studied. In addition, the justification of equivalent strut is assessed by the distribution of principal stresses. The results show that the behavior of the masonry structure is highly influenced by the failure of mortar. On the basis of the distribution of principal stress of the masonry wall in the reinforced concrete frame, the equivalent strut can be approximately substituted for the masonry wall without separation and opening. However, the application of equivalent strut to the masonry wall with separation and opening needs further study.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2013

Soft storey failure mechanism is a common collapse mode for masonry-infilled (MI) reinforced concrete (RC) buildings subjected to severe earthquakes. Simple analytical equations correlating global with local ductility demands are derived from pushover (PO) analyses for seismic assessments of regular MI RC frames, considering the critical interstorey drift ratio, number of storeys and lateral loading configurations. The reliability of the equations is investigated using incremental dynamic analyses for MI RC frames of up to 7 storeys. Using the analytical ductility relationship and a coefficient-based method (CBM), the response spectral accelerations and period shift factors of low-rise MI RC frames are computed. The results are verified through published shake table test results. In general applications, the analytical ductility relationships thus derived can be used to bypass the onerous PO analysis while accurately predicting the local ductility demands for seismic assessment of regular MI RC frames.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.423-442
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• 2018

In this paper, masonry infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames are analyzed through a probabilistic approach. A macro-modeling technique, based on an equivalent diagonal pin-jointed strut, has been resorted to for modelling the stiffening contribution of the masonry panels. Since it is quite difficult to decide which mechanical characteristics to assume for the diagonal struts in such simplified model, the strut width is here considered as a random variable, whose stochastic characterization stems from a wide set of empirical expressions proposed in the literature. The stochastic analysis of the masonry infilled RC frame is conducted via the Probabilistic Transformation Method by employing a set of space transformation laws of random vectors to determine the probability density function (PDF) of the system response in a direct manner. The knowledge of the PDF of a set of response indicators, including displacements, bending moments, shear forces, interstory drifts, opens an interesting discussion about the influence of the uncertainty of the masonry infills and the resulting implications in a design process.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.529-536
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• 1999

The objective of the research stated herein is to observe th elastic and inelastic behaviors and ultimate capacity of 1 : 5 scale 3-story reinforced concrete frame. Pushover tests were performed to 1:5 scale 3-story reinforced concrete frames without and with infilled masonry. To simulate the earthquake effect, the lateral force distribution was maintained to be an inverted triangle by using the whiffle tree. From the results of tests, the relations between the total lateral load and the roof drift, the distribution of column shears, the relation between story shear and story drift, and the angular rotations at the critical portions of structures were obtained. The effects of infilled masonry are investigated with regards to the stiffness, strength, and ductility of structures. Final collapse modes of structures with and without infilled masonry are compared.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.333-347
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• 2017

Masonry infill walls are unavoidable parts of any building to create a separation between internal space and external environment. In general, there are some prevalent openings in the infill wall due to functional needs, architectural considerations or aesthetic concerns. In current design practice, the strength and stiffness contribution of infill walls is not considered. However, the presence of infill walls may decisively influence the seismic response of structures subjected to earthquake loads and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame. Furthermore, partial openings in the masonry infill wall are significant parameter affecting the seismic behavior of infilled frames thereby decreasing the lateral stiffness and strength. The possible effects of openings in the infill wall on seismic behavior of RC frames is analytically studied by means of pushover analysis of several bare, partially and fully infilled frames having different bay and story numbers. The stiffness loss due to partial opening is introduced by the stiffness reduction factors which are developed from finite element analysis of frames considering frame-infill interaction. Pushover curves of frames are plotted and the maximum base shear forces, the yield displacement, the yield base shear force coefficient, the displacement demand, interstory drift ratios and the distribution of story shear forces are determined. The comparison of parameters both in terms of seismic demand and capacity indicates that partial openings decisively influences the nonlinear behavior of RC frames and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame or fully infilled frame.