EFFECT OF MASONRY WALLS ON NATURAL PERIOD OF 8-STOREY RC MOMENT RESISTING BUILDINGS

Masonry infills are considered as non-structural elements in the design of buildings. Design codes, make structures more flexible because in calculating the natural period of RC buildings they don’t consider effect of masonry infill properties Such as: stiffness of infill, infill thickness and percentage of opening in panels. Empirical equations of design codes have been developed according to the observed period of real buildings during ground motions. In this paper, we try to present a method to calculate the natural period of RC moment structures with considering masonry infill properties. In this case, the natural periods of RC moment building have been calculated by the three-dimensional FE modeling method and modal eigenvalue analysis by including the effect of the masonry panels, then the results of the finite element method are compared with results of seismic design codes. Finally, the formula for calculating the natural period of RC buildings have been presented.

Keywords:

Natural Period , Masonry Infill , RC Moment Frame , Building Design Codes