Shake Table Response of Unreinforced Masonry and Reinforced Concrete Elements of Special Moment Resisting Frame

Abstract

Half-scaled reinforced concrete frame of two storeys and two bays with unreinforced masonry (URM) infill walls was subjected to base excitation on a shake table for seismic performance evaluation. Considering the high seismic hazard Zone IV of Pakistan, reinforcement detailing in the RC frame is provided according to special moment resisting frames (SMFRs) requirement of Building Code of Pakistan Seismic-Provisions (BCP SP-2007). The reinforced concrete frame was infilled with in-plane solid masonry walls in its interior frame, in-plane masonry walls with door and window openings in the exterior frame, out-of-plane solid masonry wall, and masonry wall with door and window openings in its interior frame. For seismic capacity qualification test, the structure was subjected to three runs of unidirectional base excitation with increasing intensity. For system identification, ambient-free vibration tests were performed at different stages of experiment. Seismic performance of brick masonry infill walls in reinforced concrete frame structures was evaluated. During the shake table test, performance of URM infill walls was satisfactory until design ground acceleration was 0.40g with a global drift of 0.23%. The test was continued till 1.24g of base acceleration. This paper presents key findings from the shake table tests, including the qualitative damage observations and quantitative force-displacement, and hysteretic response of the test specimen at different levels of excitation. Experimental results of this test will serve as a benchmark for validation of numerical and analytical models.