Lefebvre¹ and M.-J. Nollet²

1. D. Candidate, Department of Construction Engineering, École de technologie supérieure, Montreal, QC, H3C 1K3, Canada, karine.lefebvre@etsmtl.ca
2. Professor, Department of Construction Engineering, École de technologie supérieure, mnollet@ctn.etsmtl.ca

ABSTRACT

Frames infilled with brick masonry represent an important part of the historical buildings stock found in Montreal and other cities in Quebec, which is representative of the construction in eastern North America. Among this general structural typology, reinforced concrete frames erected before 1960’s, are known to present some deficiencies affecting their lateral capacity. Moreover, the interaction between concrete and masonry is still unclear. The first objective is to proceed to a structural characterization of this typology. The second objective is to increase the precision of the seismic vulnerability evaluation for this kind of structure through a better understanding of the response under lateral loads and on how geometrical and modelling parameters affect the response. This paper presents a parametric study on the influence of different parameters on the linear response and nonlinear response of infilled RC frames under seismic load. The results will be used to develop an improved simplified model for the infill. A set of parameters (height to width ratio, number of storeys and bays, openings, modelling techniques, etc.) is evaluated under modal, static linear/nonlinear and dynamic nonlinear analyses. Linear and modal analyses have been completed. The preliminary results show that geometric parameters such as infill thickness, column dimensions and story height are not very influential. Modelling of upper storeys and types of openings are the two parameters that will be considered in the upcoming static and dynamic nonlinear analyses.

KEYWORDS: seismic, brick masonry, infill, RC frame, existing structure, seismic vulnerability

C4-1