LATERAL RESPONSE EVALUATION OF STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES WITH MASONRY INFILLS

An established practice for the design of steel frame structures is to ignore the contribution of non-structural elements, such as masonry infilled walls.Even though this is considered a pro-safety simplification, it removes the opportunity to predict more realistically the actual structural response, on one hand, and to evaluate non-structural damage, particularly under less severe earthquakes, on the other.This study attempts to evaluate the contribution of masonry infills to the response of typical steel frames.In particular, a selection of multistorey frames designed according to Eurocode 3 and 8, ignoring the presence of infills, is examined.The infills are then modeled, using an equivalent diagonal strut scheme.Their contribution to the structural response is evaluated through both linear and nonlinear analyses, for variable ratio of wall openings and number of storeys.The response characteristics are compared with the respective ones of the bare steel frames.The results reveal a significant increase in stiffness, as well as improved lateral resistance.Moreover, in regard to damage limitation requirements, the effectiveness of the infilled frames is significantly enhanced.