Evaluation and analysis of the performance of masonary infills during the Northridge earthquake
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Lockheed Martin, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); and others
Observations were made of the behavior of masonry infills in structural frames during the Northridge earthquake, and an analytical technique was developed for analyzing infilled frame structures. Infills near the epicenter suffered significant damage, but in several cases contributed to the seismic resistance and life safety performance. Older infill buildings in downtown Los Angeles experienced intensity of shaking similar to that expected in central/eastern United States earthquakes. The infills experienced some cracking, but otherwise complemented the lateral resistance of the weak building frames. This suggests infill frame buildings in moderate seismic zones may provide at least life safety functions without the need for expensive retrofit. A developed analytical technique was used to analyze two buildings for which the observed behavior and records from the Northridge earthquake were available. The analytical technique was based on using a piecewise linear equivalent strut for the infill. Parameters for the strut were obtained by examining the results of a wide variety of experimental infill tests. The strut method is easy to incorporate in standard linear analyses, and converges quite rapidly. The strut method was applied to two structures that had records from the Northridge earthquake. Very favorable comparisons between the analytical method and observed response were obtained. Recommendations were made concerning evaluation of the vulnerability of infills to earthquakes, and the construction of infills.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 414635
- Report Number(s):
- Y/EN-5493; ON: DE97001619; CNN: Grant CMS-9416262; TRN: 97:000133
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Feb 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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