Influence of interface on the behavior of infilled frame subjected to lateral load using linear analysis

Two dimensional numerical investigations were carried out to study the influence of interface thickness and their pattern on the behavior of reinforced concrete frames subjected to in-plane lateral loads using commercial finite element tool SAP 2000. The linear elastic analysis was carried out on one and two bay structural systems as well as the influence of number of stories was studied by varying the number of stories as single, three and five. The cement mortar was used as interface material and their effect was studied by varying thicknesses as 6, 8, 10, 14 and 20 mm. The interface was recognized as one sided, two sided, three sided and four sided and their effect was studied by removing the interface material between the reinforced concrete frame and masonry infill. The effect of lateral loads on infill masonry wall was also studied by varying assumed loads as 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 kN. The behavior of infilled frames studied has revealed that there is a maximum influence of interface thickness and interface pattern corresponding to 10 mm thickness. In general, the lateral displacement of frame is increased linearly with increase in lateral loads.