• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제81권4호
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• pp.395-409
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• 2022

The presence of infill generally neglected in design despite the fact that infill contribution significantly increase the lateral stiffness and strength of the reinforced concrete frame structure. Several experimental studies and computational models have been proposed to capture the rational response of infill-frame interaction at global level. However, limited studies are available on explicit finite element modelling to study the local behavior due to high computation and convergence issues in numerical modelling. In the current study, the computational modelling of RC frames is done with various configurations of infill masonry in terms of types of blocks, lateral loading and reinforcement detailing employed with material nonlinearities, interface contact issues and bond-slip phenomenon particularly near the beam-column joints. To this end, extensive computational modelling of five variant characteristics test specimens extracted from the detailed experimental program available in literature and process through nonlinear static analysis in FEM code, ATENA generally used to capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures. Results are presented in terms of damage patterns and capacity curves by employing the finest possible detail provided in the experimental program. Comparative analysis shows that good correlation amongst the experimental and numerical simulated results both in terms of capacity and crack patterns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.563-577
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• 2022

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of a new seismic enhancement method for existing reinforced concrete (RC) frames by using an external sub-structure, the hybrid seismic retrofit method (HSRM) system. This retrofit system is an H-shaped frame bolt-connected to an existing RC frame with an infilled-concrete layer between their gaps. Two RC frames were built, one with and one without HSRM, and tested under cyclic loading. The experimental findings showed that the retrofitted RC frame was superior to the non-retrofitted specimen in terms of initial stiffness, peak load, and energy dissipation capacity. A numerical simulation using a commercial program was employed for verification with the experiments. The results obtained from the simulations were consistent with those from the experiments, indicating the finite element (FE) models can simulate the seismic behaviors of bare RC frame and retrofitted RC frame using HSRM.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.611-623
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• 2019

A set of mid-rise bare and uniformly infilled reinforced-concrete frame buildings are analyzed for two different seismic intensities of ground-motions (i.e., 'Design Basis Earthquake' and 'Maximum Considered Earthquake') to study their floor response. The crucial parameters affecting seismic design force for acceleration-sensitive non-structural components are studied and compared with the guidelines of the European and the United States standards, and also with the recently developed NIST provisions. It is observed that the provisions of both the European and the United States standards do not account for the effects of the period of vibration of the supporting structure and seismic intensity of ground-motions and thereby provides conservative estimates of the in-structure amplification. In case of bare frames, the herein derived component amplification factors for both the design basis earthquake and the maximum considered earthquake exceeds with their recommended values in the European and the United States standards for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration, whereas, in case of infilled frames, component amplification factors exceeds with their recommended value in the European standard for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the fundamental mode of vibration, and only for the design basis earthquake. As a consequence of these observations, as well as capping on the design force (in case of United states standard and NIST provisions), in case of the design basis earthquake, the combined amplification factor is underestimated for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration of bare frames, and also for non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the fundamental mode of vibration of infilled frames. At the maximum considered earthquake demand, excepting non-structural components having periods in vicinity of the higher modes of vibration of bare frames, all provisions generally provide conservative estimates of the design floor accelerations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.437-449
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• 2020

It is quite apparent that engineering concerns related to the influence of masonry infills on seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is likely to remain relevant in the long term, as infill walls maintain their functionalities in construction practice. Within this framework, the present paper mainly deals with the issue in terms of modal expansion of effective earthquake forces and the resultant modal responses. An adequate determination of spatial distribution of effective earthquake forces over the height of the building is highly essential for both seismic analysis and design. The possible influence of infill walls is investigated by means of modal analyses of two-, three-, and four-bay RC frames with a number of stories ranging from 3 to 8. Both uniformly and non-uniformly infilled frames are considered in numerical analyses, where infill walls are simulated by adopting the model of equivalent compression strut. Consequently, spatial distribution of effective earthquake forces, modal static base shear force response of frames, modal responses of story shears from external excitation vector and lateral floor displacements are obtained. It is found that, infill walls and their arrangement over the height of the frame structure affect the spatial distribution of modal inertia forces, as well as the considered response quantities. Moreover, the amount of influence varies in stories, but is not very dependent to bay number of frames.