08-10-2014, 04:37 PM
Six 1:2.7 reduced scale one-bay one-storey RC portal frames with brick masonry infills are experimentally studied under displacement-controlled pseudo-static reverse cyclic loading history. Effect of window openings and unanchored long lintels in the infill are main focus of this study. One of the frames considered is a RC frame infilled with inclined brick course masonry, and another is a bare frame. Frames with window openings in the infill showed reduction in ultimate load by 7%, initial stiffness by 47% and ductility by 32% than frames with full infills. Providing a long lintel does not show any major improvement over that when a short lintel is provided, except in increasing the initial stiffness by 29%. In frames with and without window frame around openings, the ultimate load, initial stiffness and energy dissipation are within 11%. In the latter, distortion of opening increased with displacement excursion, and the final collapse of the infill is in-plane from the sides of the opening. Progressive damage was almost similar in both the specimens. The response of