Studies on two bay and three storey infilled frame with different interface materials: Experimental and finite element studies

Abstract

The non-linear behaviour of integral infilled frames (in which the infill and the frame are bonded together with help of various interface materials) is studied both experimentally and numerically. The experiments were carried out on one-sixth scale two-bay and three-storey reinforced concrete frames with and without infill against static cyclic loading. Three interface materials - cement mortar, cork and foam have been used in between the infill and the frame. The infill, interface and the frame are bonded together is called integral frame. The linear and non-linear behaviors of two dimensional bare frame and integral infilled frame have been studied numerically using the commercial finite element software SAP 2000. Linear finite element analysis has been carried out to quantify the effect of various interface materials on the infilled frames with various combinations of 21 cases and the results compared. The modified configuration that used all three interface materials offered better resistance above others. Therefore, the experiments were limited to this modified infilled frame case configuration, in addition to conventional (A1-integral infilled frame with cement mortar as interface) and bare frame (A0-No infill). The results have been compared with the numerical results done initially. It is found that stiffness of bare frame increased by infilling and the strength of modified frame increased by 20% compare to bare frame. The ductility ratio of modified infilled frame was 42% more than that of the conventional infilled frame. In general, the numerical result was found to be in good agreement with experimental results for initial crack load, ultimate load and deformed pattern of infill.