Experiments on Reinforced Concrete Frames with Brick Infill

Experiments on Reinforced Concrete Frames with Brick Infill

Brick walls constrained by a reinforced concrete(RC) frame on all four sides are quite often used in low-rise RC buildings. According to earthquake reconnaissance, a brick infilled wall is one of the major resistances of preventing building collapse. Therefore, understanding the seismic behavior of a brick infilled wall is essential in evaluating the seismic resistance of existing low-rise RC buildings. This research is aimed at examining the seismic behavior of brick infilled walls. Four full-scale reinforced concrete(RC) frames with 1B-width brick walls were tested under cyclic loading. The main variables were the brick infilled walls with and without an inner-tied column, and the compression strength of mortar. The test results indicated that the boundary columns and the inner-tied column of RC frame with brick infill were in shear failure. As well as, the ultimate lateral strength of brick infilled walls with an inner-tied column is 1.7 times of that of brick infilled wall without an inner-tied column. The increased compression strength of mortar is also beneficial to the seismic behavior of brick infilled walls. Test results showed that the RC frame can still have a mild negative slope of strength degradation for its post-strength behavior.