Strength and stiffness prediction of masonry infill panels

Wael W. El-Dakhakhni, Ahmad A. Hamid and Mohamed Elgaaly.

Incluyo el documento en mi recopilación de Estructuras.

Summary.

 Masonry infill panels in framed structures have been long known to affect strength, stiffness and ductility of the composite structure. In seismic areas, ignoring the composite action is not always on the safe side, since the interaction between the panel and the frame under lateral loads dramatically changes the stiffness and the dynamic characteristics of the composite structure and hence its response to seismic loads. This study presents a simple method of estimating the stiffness and the lateral load capacity of concrete masonry-infilled steel frames failing in corner crushing mode, as well as the internal forces in the steel frame members. In this method, each masonry panel is replaced by three struts with forcedeformation characteristics based on the orthotropic behaviour of the masonry infill panels. The method can be easily computerized and included in non-linear analysis and design of three-dimensional infilled frame structures.