Seismic vulnerability assessment of bare and masonry infilled reinforced concrete frame structures

Construction of masonry infilled RC frames is common practice in many countries. Infills contribute to the performance of structures which is generally neglected in analysis and design by considering it as non-structural element. The purpose of this study is to evaluate band compare the seismic vulnerability of bare and masonry infilled RC frames. Different types of infill materials have been considered in this study. These infill materials include brick masonry, solid concrete block masonry and hollow concrete block masonry. Experimental testing has been performed to determine the compressive strength of the masonry infill. Three, five, seven and nine story, RC frames designed under gravity loads have been considered in this study. Seismic Vulnerability assessment is conducted to evaluate the seismic hazards corresponding to various levels of damage in the building. Perform-3D has been used as an analytical tool for this purpose. Cyclic pushover analysis followed by the capacity spectrum method and seismic vulnerability assessment framework proposed by (Kyriakides, 2007) have been used to derive the vulnerability curves for bare and masonry infilled RC frames. The vulnerability curves show an improvement in overall performance of RC frames with the inclusion of infill panel.