RESPONSE OF SINGLE BAY TWO STOREYED BRICK MASONRY INFILLED RC PORTAL FRAMES UNDER IN-PLANE CYCLIC LOADS

摘要

Multistoreyed Reinforced Concrete (RC) framed structures with masonry in-fills (MI) have become a widely accepted construction practice. Since, the lateral stiffness of MI has no influence on the design of RC frames under gravity loads, its stiffness can be ignored. However, the lateral load resisting capacity of such frames is largely influenced due to the lateral stiffness and strength contributed by MI and they also influence the post yield response of the structural system significantly. This paper presents the behavior of MI- RC frames under in-plane reversed cyclic lateral loads up to failure. The influence of brick MI on the post yield behavior has been investigated experimentally. Three half-scale single-bay two-storeyed RC frame models were investigated. One of them was a bare RC frame, the second one was RC frame with MI, while the third one was in-filled in the upper storey, to study the open ground storey effect. The post cracking behavior of the system has been experimentally studied and has been presented in detail.