SHEAR STRENGTH OF INFILL PANELS

This paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental investigations on brick infilled steel frames. Scaled models of steel frames were infilled with brick walls, and were subjected to lateral cyclic loading. Finite element analysis was also carried out to study the distribution of stresses and internal forces. The results indicate that the presence of an infill panel enhances the seismic behaviour of a structure generally. An analytical method for determining the cracking pattern and shear strength of infill panels based on minimising the factor of safety of failure surfaces has been developed and discussed. This method is also capable of back-calculating the shear strength parameters of the brickwork. Two main repairing techniques were examined; in these techniques, either the corner material is replaced with concrete or a concrete cover is placed on the panel, Both experiment and analysis have confirmed the efficiency and adequacy of these techniques.