Investigation of Seismic Performance for Low-Rise RC Buildings with Different Patterns of Infill Walls

Abstract

Evaluating the structural performance of low-rise RC buildings with infill walls is an essential issue in Thailand, as most infill walls were not designed for lateral load resistance. The purpose of this study was to predict the structural behavior and illustrate the effects of infill walls. Residential, commercial, and educational buildings were selected as representative buildings with different patterns of infill walls. Based on the results, infill walls contributed to considerable strength and stiffness. Most of the infill walls that affected the low-rise buildings were at the ground floor level. The behavior of the buildings that had a contribution of infill walls was found to be brittle until the infill walls collapsed, and then the buildings became ductile. Some patterns in which infill walls were placed improperly led to a torsional effect, resulting in columns in the affected areas reaching failure criteria more than those without this effect. Considering the NLRHA procedure, only infill walls on the ground floor contributed to the building being subjected to a ground motion. The fully infilled frame tended to reach the infill crack before the other patterns. For the UMRHA procedure, only the first vibration mode was adequate to predict seismic responses, such as roof displacement and top-story drift.

An Innovative Fire-Resistant Lightweight Concrete Infill Wall Reinforced with Waste Glass

“…The repercussions extend beyond seismic events, impacting the overall structural behavior of buildings. In addition to seismic vulnerability, infill walls cause adverse structural effects, such as reduced natural periods [2,3], shear fractures in connections [4], the formation of short columns susceptible to shear loads [5,6], and the creation of soft stories [7,8]. In recognizing these shortcomings, researchers have sought novel methods to mitigate the undesirable impacts of infill walls on structural behavior [9].…”

Seismic performance assessment of deficient RC structures retrofitted with different steel bracing systems

“…These methods have emerged as the most popular methods for design or seismic analysis, and can be employed for a variety of representations to the evaluated structure and its elements (Ghazal and Mwafy, 2022). The widespread pushover analysis is a practical and effective approach to represent the inelastic deformation with adequate accuracy (Hashemi Rezvani et al, 2017), additionally, for their overall usability results, such as strength and stiffness of the building can be readily assessed (Saengyuan and Latcharote, 2022). Dynamic analysis can be used not only for the concept of new buildings but also for evaluating the behavior of existing buildings under seismic events.…”

“…(Porcu et al, 2019). However, it is very time-consuming and requires more computing effort than static analysis (Saengyuan and Latcharote, 2022). The validity of the assessment method relies on the properties of the structure and earthquake accelerations.…”