Behaviour of Masonry Infilled Walls with RC Frames under In-Plane Loads

Abstract

The analysis of in filled masonry walls with RC frames has been a major area of study in the past. Typically these walls are considered as non-structural components while designing the frame due to the complexity involved. The performance of such structures under an earthquake scenario has attracted major attention. In this paper we look into the analysis of these type of structures using equivalent diagonal strut concept. A comparison is made with the experimental results of a single bay frame performed by Mehrabi(1996)1 et al and non-linear push over analysis performed in SAP2000 using different equivalent diagonal strut widths suggested by Mainstone(1962)5 and Holmes(1961)4. This paper also compares the results obtained for a diagonal single strut model with a three strut diagonal model suggested by Chrysostomou(1991)15 for the same widths. In general The SAP2000 analysis showed that all the models considered overestimated the lateral peak load capacity of the masonry in-filled frames.