Earthquake Assessment of R/C Structures with Masonry Infill Walls

The infill masonry walls are seldom included in numerical analysis of reinforced concrete structural systems, since masonry panels are generally considered as non-structural components. However, these panels affect the structural response, although the complexity they introduce to analysis, generally keep them unaccounted for.The typical construction type in Turkey is reinforced concrete structures with masonry infill walls. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the contribution of infill walls to earthquake response of these structures. In this study, a 3-story R/C frame structure with different amount of masonry infill walls is considered to investigate the affect of infill walls on earthquake response of these type of structures. The diagonal strut approach is adopted for modeling masonry infill walls. Pushover curves are obtained for the structures using nonlinear analyses option of commercial software SAP2000. Nonlinear analyses are realized to sketch pushover curves and results are presented in comparison and the effects of irregular configuration of masonry infill wall on the performance of the structure are studied. From the pushover curves, story displacements, relative story displacements, maximum plastic rotations are determined. Regarding with the analysis results, the effects of irregularities are determined in the structural behavior under earthquake.