R. Sepasdar ¹, C.Y. Wang ², and Y. Liu³
1,2,3 Dept. of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax (Canada)
e-mail: reza.sepasdar@dal.ca; chongyang.wang@dal.ca; yi.liu@dal.ca

Keywords: masonry infilled RC frame, out-of-plane behaviour, arching action, experimental study, in-plane loading damage.

Abstract. This paper presents an experimental study conducted on the out-of-plane behaviour and strength of concrete masonry infills bounded by reinforced concrete (RC) frames. A total of eight masonry infilled RC frame specimens were tested to failure under out-of-plane loading applied through an airbag. The parameters considered included infill opening, frame-to infill interfacial gap, and damage sustained during prior in-plane loading. The infill opening considered both window and door openings with same opening-to-infill area ratio. The interfacial gap was implemented at either the top frame beam to infill interface or frame columns to infill interface. For prior damage, the specimens were first subjected to in-plane loading to the desired damage level defined by the lateral displacement indicator and then tested under out-of-plane pressure to failure. All specimens were constructed with the same geometry using half-scale 200 mm standard concrete masonry units laid in the running bond. The specimen details, and test setup and procedure were described. The experimental results were presented and discussed in terms of load vs. displacement response, cracking pattern, and failure mode for each specimen. The effect of parameters as well as the effectiveness of existing analytical methods were examined using the results obtained thus far.