Analytical Study on Lateral Strength of Multi-Span RC Frame with Masonry Infill

Abstract A simple and accurate analytical model for defining the lateral strength of the multi-span RC frame with masonry infill has been developed in this study. This model is developed due to the limitation of the current analytical model which only can be applied to the single-span RC frame. Meanwhile, the structure in the building also is in a multi-span frame and masonry infill greatly impacts the portal structure. In the existing building, this analytical method is needed to calculate the lateral strength of the RC frame. Besides, the analytical method was developed based on the lateral strength analysis method of a single-span RC frame in which the modeling of a multi-span RC frame with masonry infill along with uniform span spacing was applied. Furthermore, an equivalent diagonal strut with the same thickness and material as the masonry panels was used instead of masonry infill in the frame structure. The external column has diagonal compressive forces on the top or bottom of the column. On the other hand, diagonal compressive forces work at the top and the bottom of the column in the internal column. The lateral strength of the infill was determined based on the frame infill contact length. Furthermore, in order to obtain the lateral strength of the structure, the experimental study of a multi-span RC frame with masonry infill under cyclic load was also tested. Applying the analytical model has shown promising results even after being compared with the results of the experimental work.