Out-of-plane performance evaluation of energy-dissipating hysteretic infill wall system under cyclic loading

Abstract

An innovative energy-dissipating hysteretic (EDH) infill system is conceptualized and designed with the help of slotted concrete blocks interlinked with energy-dissipating link elements. Full-scale reinforced concrete frames infilled with the EDH infill system and the conventional brick infill system are tested initially under in-plane cyclic test followed by out-of-plane cyclic test. A specially designed double-leaf airbag test setup maneuvered with hydraulic actuators is fabricated for out-of-plane testing of the infilled frames. The hysteresis performance of both the infill wall systems is compared experimentally. A cyclic pushover test in the out-of-plane direction is also carried out to assess the amount of damage and the residual capacity of the EDH infill system. The test results reveal that the out-of-plane performance with prior in-plane damage of the EDH infill is significantly improved over the conventional brick infill system in terms of lateral strength, stiffness degradation, deformation capacity, energy dissipation, and effective damping. A numerical model of the EDH infill system is developed based on the elastomeric properties of the energy-dissipating links in the OpenSees software platform.