181 / 2022-04-30 18:21:12

Behavior of Infilled RC Frames under Out-of-Plane Lateral Loads using Digital Image Correlation Techniques

RC frames; Out-of-plane behavior; Digital image correlation techniques; Monotonic loading.

Recent seismic events showed that a crucial issue for life-safety and loss reduction in existing reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings with internal partition or external cladding masonry wall panels is related to the mitigation of the out-of-plane collapse of wall panels. Most of the previous research studies mainly focused on frame-infill interaction subjected to in-plane lateral loads, but a few studies were carried out on to evaluate the out-of-plane (OOP) behavior. In the current research, a comprehensive experimental investigation was carried to evaluate the out-of-plane behavior of full-scale, single-bay, single-storey RC frame specimens with burnt clay brick masonry infill wall panels. The influence of frame-infill interaction, connection details between individual wall panel elements and surrounding frame members, slenderness ratio of wall panels, and arching effect on the seismic performance and failure mechanisms were evaluated. Non-contact optical GOM ARAMIS 3D measuring system was used to capture the full field out-of-plane deformation and strain concentration analysis of the masonry infill wall panel and frame members. The OOP behavior of masonry infilled RC frames was evaluated in terms of failure mode, force-displacement response, strength, and stiffness degradation were analyzed. The typical infill failure mechanism was characterized by predominant horizontal and vertical crack at mid-height of the infills and the stepwise crack pattern. Under the action of monotonic out-of-plane lateral load, two-way arch resisting mechanism was clearly formed. Using the full-field strain data and crack patterns obtained from 3d-DIC analysis, the early damage locations were found and the strengthening measures to contain the out-of-plane failure in the future earthquakes were suggested.