Earthquake-proof system for masonry infills in RC frame structures

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation, vol. 5, pp. 185

Abstract

The use of masonry infill walls in RC frame structures is common in many countries, even in seismically active areas, where the observations made after strong earthquakes have shown that masonry infills significantly modify the dynamic behaviour of the structure, thus causing total collapses of buildings and loss of human lives. The innovative system called Innovative Decoupled Infill System (INODIS) was developed with the aim to improve the behaviour of infilled RC frames by decoupling the frame and the masonry infill. Description of the system with the installation steps is given with the experimental tests showing that INODIS system highly reduces the activation of infills, thus enables reaching high in-plane drifts without having any damage and at the same time provides stable and reliable connection in out-of-plane direction. Also, the micro model showed that INODIS system improves the behaviour of AAC masonry infills by reducing the level of damage in the walls and postponing infill activation to higher drift levels.

Authors 2

1. Marko Marinković

   University of Belgrade

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Engineering Mechanics and Theory of Structures, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra 73, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

2. Christoph Butenweg Aachen CWE – Center for Wind and Earthquake Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   CWE - Center for Wind and Earthquake Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der Rohe-Straße 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany