Abstract:
The buildings can withstand earthquake more effectively if the structural performance of the
existing buildings can be assessed accurately. This study aims at determining the effect of masonry
as an infill on the vulnerability of reinforced concrete frame buildings by using probabilistic
performance based assessment. Refined linear and nonlinear structural models were developed,
from data collected through professional surveys, using PERFORM-3D platform. Nonlinear –
static and dynamic - analyses were carried out, for fifteen natural ground motions, to examine the
plastic behavior of the models. Subsequently, vulnerability was assessed using fragility
relationships. The fragility parameters were determined by employing Maximum Likelihood
Method (MLM). The results indicated decrease in the probability of exceedance of 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 overall stiffness of the
structure but it restricts the ability of structure to deform which leads to localized failures.
