08-10-2014, 04:32 PM
An example three-storey residential building is designed for forces corresponding to Seismic Zone V of the draft Indian seismic code in accordance with seismic design philosophy given for RC frame buildings with brick masonry infills in the three current design codes. The building is also designed as per the Equivalent Braced Frame Concept given in literature. Non-linear pushover analysis is performed on these five buildings; the masonry infill panels are modeled as equivalent diagonal struts in all cases. The effect of the brick infills on the overall response of the structure is studied. The performance of all the five buildings are compared and the associated design procedure are evaluated. The study shows that infills reduce the drift capacity and structural damage, and significantly increase the strength and stiffness of the structure. The columns, beams and infill walls in the lower stories are more vulnerable to damage than those on the upper stories. The role of the plinth beam is found to be significant when the contribution of infills are taken into account in