Effect of Infill Walls in RC Buildings with Transfer Structures Under Earthquake Effects
摘要
Architects focus on the ground stories of buildings for utility and accommodating purposes such as parking facilities, retail spaces, or event halls that require expanded open spaces with minimal columns. Transfer structures in the buildings provide a rigid frame with fewer columns below the conventional frame to accommodate such facilities. The current building code lacks design guidelines, which require the identification of critical parameters that influence the behavior of such buildings. A parametric study is carried out for 2D RC moment frame buildings with ten stories, considering the transfer beams and columns at the bottom three stories and varying the number of bays. The modal mass participation factor is higher in their first mode; also, a large disparity is seen in the fundamental natural period calculated from software and building code. Modern designs of transfer structures generally do not include infill walls; however, the inclusion of infill walls has resulted in noticeable damage to transfer beams, highlighting potential challenges in maintaining structural integrity. The motive for designing such a building is that the transfer structure should not sustain any damage. Therefore, specific guidelines for designing transfer beams and columns are essential to minimize damage.