A review of seismic behaviour of RC frames with masonry infill

Exterior masonry walls and/or interior partitions built as an infill between a reinforced concrete frame’s beams and columns are usually considered to be non-structural elements in design. The interaction between the frame and infill is often ignored. However, the actual behaviour of such structures observed during past earthquakes shows that their response is often wrongly predicted during the design stage. Real interaction between the infill panel and frame results in premature failure of the frame in some cases, and in improved performance in others. With the aim of better understanding the interaction between the primary structure and infill panels, this paper reviews research performed on the structural behaviour of such buildings under earthquakes. In addition, the predictions of FE models developed here will be compared with the results of some laboratory tests that were previously conducted at the University of Melbourne on masonry specimens. The modelling techniques developed in this work will be useful in constructing future larger FE models to evaluate the real performance at the key displacement limit states of infill-frames when subjected simultaneously to seismic in-plane and out-of-plane loads.