Author

E.N. VINTZILEOU and V.A. PALIERAKI

Laboratory of Reinforced Concrete, Faculty of Civil Engineering, NationalTechnicalUniversity of Athens, Greece

Abstract

The contribution of infill walls to the seismic behaviour of RC structures is widely recognised. The reduction of in-plane and out-of-plane vulnerability of infill walls, as well as the limitation of negative effects of the frame-infill interaction, is a very important issue of public safety and economy. In this paper, the solution of reinforcing the infill walls is experimentally examined. Two alternative types of “reinforcement” are considered, namely the construction of an RC tie beam at mid-height of the infill and the arrangement of bed joint reinforcement (truss type reinforcement or metal lath). Brick masonry specimens (aspect ratio equal to 1.0 or 2.0) were tested either in diagonal compression or in out-of-plane bending. The results have proven that the use of truss type bed joint reinforcement offers the best performing solution against out-of-plane bending, as well as in case of in-plane shear, when the aspect ratio is equal to 1.0. In case of infills with an aspect ratio of 2.0, failure along a horizontal masonry joint could not be avoided for any type of reinforcement. In this paper, the experimental results obtained are presented and commented on.