Resistance of reinforced concrete frames with masonry infill walls to in-plane vertical loading

Numerous studies have been conducted on the in plane behavior of masonry infill walls to lateral loading simulating earthquake action on buildings. The present study is focused on a problem that has almost not been studied regarding the vertical (opposed to lateral) in-plane action on these walls. This may be of concern when a supporting column of a multi-storey reinforced concrete frame with infill masonry walls undergoes a severe damage due to an extreme loading such as a strong earthquake, car impact or military or terror action in proximity to the column. The loss of the supporting column may cause a fully or partly progressive collapse to a bare reinforced concrete frame, without infill masonry walls. The presence of the infill masonry walls may restrain the process and prevent the development of a progressive collapse. The aim of the present study is to test the in-plane composite action of Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames with infill masonry walls under vertical loading through laboratory experiments and evaluate the contributions of infill masonry walls, in an attempt to examine the infill masonry wall added resistance to the bare frame under these circumstances. Preliminary results of laboratory tests that have been conducted on reinforced concrete infilled frames without a support at their end, under monotonic vertical loading along that column axis will be presented. The observed damages and failure modes under vertical loading are clearly different from the already known failure modes observed in the case of lateral loading.