Abstract:

The strengthening of infill walls, a strengthening method for reinforced concrete buildings against earthquakes, can become an effective strengthening method when the number of members that should be repaired individually was high and the stiffness of the lateral load-carrying system was low. If the strengthening process performed by this method is projected with an appropriate analysis as required and the lateral stiffness of the building is increased by the aid of the infill wall behaving like a shear-walled frame, the strengthening other load-carrying members may not be required. In this study, three reinforced concrete frames having single-bay, two floors, ½ scale, brick-infill walls but insufficient strength and stiffness against earthquake were used for the tests. The brick infill walls of two frames were strengthened with precast high strength concrete panels and tested under lateral loads representing the seismic effect. The other frame was considered as the reference frame and tested without applying any strengthening process. The test results showed that the proposed strengthening method provided considerable increases in terms of lateral stiffness and strength.

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