Effect of masonry infill on analytical fragility response of RC frame school buildings in high seismic zone

ABSTRACT This study aims at determining the effect of masonry as an infill on the vulnerability of reinforced concrete frame buildings by using fragility assessment. Refined linear and nonlinear structural models were developed, from data collected through professional surveys, using the PERFORM-3D platform. Nonlinear – static and dynamic – analyses were carried out, for fifteen ground motions, to examine the plastic behavior of the models. Subsequently, the vulnerability was assessed using fragility relationships. The fragility parameters were determined by employing the Maximum Likelihood Method (MLM). The results indicated a decrease in the probability of exceedance for specific damage states of the structures with respect to seismic intensity for masonry infill frames. From fragility curves, it is concluded that although the use of masonry as an infill temporarily enhances the capacity of Reinforced Concrete (RC) Frame buildings as the probability of exceedance for masonry infilled RC frames is significantly reduced due to the increase in the overall stiffness of the structure.