Geometric characterisation of Portuguese RC buildings with masonry infill walls

Abstract

Recent earthquakes showed that the vulnerability of some RC buildings with masonry infill walls is high when subjected to seismic actions. During the design practice, the infills are commonly treated as non-structural elements, despite their recognised contribution to the structural response of the buildings. The safety assessment of this type of buildings is important and any detailed information is essential, since such information is needed for estimation of the losses that future earthquakes are likely to induce. The present study focuses on the observation and analysis of architectural and structural design drawings of 80 buildings that represent common RC buildings with masonry infill walls located in Portugal. The data were analysed with the purpose of estimating geometric properties of the masonry infill panels confined by RC frames. Fourteen-hundred masonry infill walls were observed and were divided in to different types according to the different dispositions of the openings. Several measurements were performed in order to have deeper knowledge about the percentage of openings that exist in masonry infill walls and consequently in the building's façade. Infill panels' dimensions were also determined and other parameters related to the general characteristics of the buildings and the structural elements were also analysed. Parameters such as beams' and columns' dimensions and reinforcement details or slab thickness were also analysed. The collected data are utilized to derive probabilistic distributions, whose goodness-of-fit are partially verified with a statistical test. The results from this study can be used in structural modelling development of nonlinear models for masonry infill panels or computation of fragility models. In addition, the statistical parameters such as mean values, standard deviations, probability density functions and their goodness-of-fit have also been investigated for all the entire parameters.

In‐plane–out‐of‐plane non‐linear model of masonry infills in the seismic analysis of r.c.‐framed buildings

“…39 A cylindrical compressive strength of 20 N/mm 2 for the concrete and a yield strength of 500 N/mm 2 for the steel are considered. 39 A cylindrical compressive strength of 20 N/mm 2 for the concrete and a yield strength of 500 N/mm 2 for the steel are considered.…”

In-Plane Behavior of Infills using Glass Fiber Shear Connectors in Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) Technique

“…The prototype of an rc frame with masonry infill was defined based on a study carried out for the characterization of the typical rc buildings constructed in Portugal since 1960s (Furtado et al, 2014). From this study, a prototype with length of 4.50 m and height of 2.70 m was defined.…”

Design of masonry infill walls with sliding joints for earthquake structural damage control

“…The general dimensions of the specimens were selected as 4.80 × 3.30 m and the cross sections of the RC columns and beams were 0.30 × 0.30 m and 0.30 × 0.50 m, respectively, which are representative of those existing in the Portuguese building stock (Furtado et al, 2015a). Figure 2 shows the RC infilled frame geometry.…”

“…Full-scale experimental tests were undertaken at the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering-LESE, with the geometry based on a previous statistical study conducted into Portuguese RC building stock, namely buildings constructed in the 1960's and 70's (Furtado et al, 2015a). The results of the experiments comprising three out-of-plane tests (with and without previous in-plane damage) will be presented and also discussed in terms of hysteretic force-displacement curves and cracking pattern.…”