Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 5A3
ABSTRACT
The effect of the wall aspect ratio, a = H / L, beam-to-column inertia ratio, fJ = h/ le, and the effect of openings on the In-plane stiffness of reinforced concrete infilled frames has been investigated. Tests were conducted on forty eight onethird scale models of RC frames from which the initial tangent stiffness, K;, the secant stiffness at first crack, Kc, and the secant stiffness at ultimate, Ku , were determined. Although the three parameters markedly affected the in-plane stiffness of infilled frames, the aspect ratio did not have a significant effect on K , A unit increase in aspect ratio resulted in fifty percent reduction of Kc. Although the effect of the beam-to-column inertia ratio on Kc and Ku depended on the opening coefficient, a unit increase lh fJ resulted in more than ten percent increase of the initial stiffness. Regression analyses were performed on test results and yielded empirical formulations which could be used in assessing the stiffness of RC frames infilled with masonry panels.
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