Stress distribution in masonry infills connected with stiff and flexible interface

Masonry infills are largely used in RC structures for various purposes, and in seismic zones, they are also preferred for providing earthquake resistant systems. However, due to the rigid connection between infills and RC frames, these systems are vulnerable when large deformations are demanded. Cyclic loads that are occurring during seismic excitations cause stress concentration level to increase, particularly in frame-infill contact zones. As a result of stress increment, infill panels get weaker in terms of both in-plane and out-of-plane resistance. These drawbacks cause loss of lives and properties, thus affecting governments and societies adversely. In order to overcome this obstacle, an innovative solution is proposed which uses flexible polymers (Polyurethane PM) as joint elements for protecting the structural elements. The research is focused on numerical analyses of three types of frames with masonry infills, which are excited through both in-plane and out-of-plane directions by different earthquake records. Infill walls are connected to the frames in three manners: stiffly (classical approach), with flexible joints at 3-boundaries and with flexible joints at 4-boundaries. Differences in calculated stress distribution as well as some other linear and non-linear results are presented and discussed. The primary results give promising outcomes that this new method might be used in seismic zones for protecting structures.