Progressive collapse performance of masonry infiiled RC frames

• Main Author: Yang, Jarvan Zhen Jia
• Other Authors: Li Bing
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68285
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

After the collapse of Ronan Point Apartment, the risk of progressive collapse of buildings due to local damage was attracted by the design engineers and research communities. However, the studies on progressive collapse began to inflate after the collapse of Murrah Federal Building and World Trade Center. Since the beginning of this century, a number of numerical and experimental studies had been conducted on the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) frame to resist progressive collapse. It is found that the structures may not collapse due to the potential of development of secondary load resisting mechanisms (Compressive Arch Action, Tensile Catenary Action, Compressive Membrane action, and Tensile Membrane Actions). However, majority of existing studies are focused on the bare frame excluding the resistant contribution from partition infill frames. Some of the numerical results had indicated that the masonry infilled walls may upgrade the load resisting capacity of the frames to mitigate progressive collapse. However, it is also pointed out that the infilled wall may lead to shear failure at the beam or joint and reduce the ductility of the frame. Moreover, the additional weights from the infilled walls may further detriment the behavior. However, as little tests had been carried out to uncover the influence of infilled walls, the understanding on the behavior of RC frame with masonry infilled walls to resist progressive collapse is still unclear. In addition, the secondary load resisting mechanisms developed in the masonry infilled RC frames to mitigate progressive collapse should be quantified. For this purpose, a series of six one-quarter scaled multi-storey multi-bay RC frames with or without infilled walls were carried out by push-down loading regimes.