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<p>Enhancing the lateral load resistance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures while preserving adequate ductility remains a persistent concern in lateral strengthening, particularly when masonry infill walls are present. Although infills significantly increase stiffness and strength, they often induce brittle failure mechanisms and lead to adverse force redistribution. This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation of the effectiveness of various infill-strengthening schemes in improving the in-plane lateral performance of RC frames subjected to monotonic lateral loading. Five 1:8 scale RC frame specimens were fabricated and tested, including a bare reference frame (RC-REF), a bare frame with a link beam to simulate the short-column effect (RC-LB), an RC frame with an infilled wall (RC-IW), an RC frame strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (RC-IW-FRP) layers, and a wall-infilled RC frame strengthened with steel plates at the corners (RC-IW-SP). Experimental results were extrapolated to prototype scale using similitude principles.</p><p>The results demonstrate that all infill configurations substantially enhance the bare frame’s initial lateral stiffness and strength; however, this improvement is generally accompanied by a significant reduction in ductility. The FRP-strengthened infill exhibited the most favorable performance among the tested schemes—approximately 576% greater than the bare frame—while effectively mitigating brittle corner crushing and more than doubling the deformation capacity relative to the unreinforced infill. In contrast, the unreinforced infilled frame, despite a significant increase in strength, failed abruptly due to diagonal strut-induced corner crushing. The steel plate–strengthened showed limited effectiveness governed by premature anchorage slip, a phenomenon largely attributed to the challenges of maintaining exact bond similitude at the 1:8 model scale. highly sensitive to connection quality, which may not be fully captured in miniature testing. Overall, the findings identify continuous FRP confinement as an effective retrofitting strategy for masonry-infilled RC frames, as it successfully balances strength enhancement with ductility preservation. The results further highlight the potential structural hazards associated with unreinforced or partially infilled frames, emphasizing the need for their explicit consideration in structural assessment and retrofitting design.</p>

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Experimental study on strengthened masonry infill walls as structural components for enhancing the lateral load resistance of reinforced concrete frame structures

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月28日

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  • Mohammed Zayed,
  • Moataz Mahmoud,
  • Ali Ahmed,
  • Ahmed Youssef

摘要

Enhancing the lateral load resistance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures while preserving adequate ductility remains a persistent concern in lateral strengthening, particularly when masonry infill walls are present. Although infills significantly increase stiffness and strength, they often induce brittle failure mechanisms and lead to adverse force redistribution. This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation of the effectiveness of various infill-strengthening schemes in improving the in-plane lateral performance of RC frames subjected to monotonic lateral loading. Five 1:8 scale RC frame specimens were fabricated and tested, including a bare reference frame (RC-REF), a bare frame with a link beam to simulate the short-column effect (RC-LB), an RC frame with an infilled wall (RC-IW), an RC frame strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (RC-IW-FRP) layers, and a wall-infilled RC frame strengthened with steel plates at the corners (RC-IW-SP). Experimental results were extrapolated to prototype scale using similitude principles.

The results demonstrate that all infill configurations substantially enhance the bare frame’s initial lateral stiffness and strength; however, this improvement is generally accompanied by a significant reduction in ductility. The FRP-strengthened infill exhibited the most favorable performance among the tested schemes—approximately 576% greater than the bare frame—while effectively mitigating brittle corner crushing and more than doubling the deformation capacity relative to the unreinforced infill. In contrast, the unreinforced infilled frame, despite a significant increase in strength, failed abruptly due to diagonal strut-induced corner crushing. The steel plate–strengthened showed limited effectiveness governed by premature anchorage slip, a phenomenon largely attributed to the challenges of maintaining exact bond similitude at the 1:8 model scale. highly sensitive to connection quality, which may not be fully captured in miniature testing. Overall, the findings identify continuous FRP confinement as an effective retrofitting strategy for masonry-infilled RC frames, as it successfully balances strength enhancement with ductility preservation. The results further highlight the potential structural hazards associated with unreinforced or partially infilled frames, emphasizing the need for their explicit consideration in structural assessment and retrofitting design.