Nonlinear static analysis of infilled RC frames: a novel simplified procedure

Masonry walls are generally utilized in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures, either as external infills or as internal partitions. Although the interaction between them and struc-tural members significantly affects the seismic response of structures, infills are usually not included in the structural models and, hence, their mechanical contribution is neglected in seis-mic analysis and assessment of existing structures. However, additional strength provided by infills may either play a beneficial role or affect the resulting structural capacity. Although several proposals are currently available for simulating the nonlinear response of masonry infills in structural analysis, no well-established methods emerged so far for evaluating the global response of infilled RC frames. This paper proposes a simplified procedure based on Nonlinear Static (NLS) analysis and an extension of the well-known N2 Method. A statistical assessment and validation is also pre-sented with the aim to confirm accuracy and reliability of the proposed analysis procedure.