EFFECT OF LINTEL AND LINTEL BAND ON THE GLOBAL PERFORMANCE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE MASONRY IN-FILLED FRAMES

S Bhargavi, Ramancharla Pradeep Kumar

Abstract: Door and window openings are unavoidable components in RC masonry in-filled frames because of functional and ventilation requirements. The presence of openings in RC masonry in-filled frames reduces the lateral stiffness and strength of the wall, which modifies the actual behavior of structure. If these openings are located in the restricted zones like areas within middle two thirds of a wall panel, then the wall needs to be strengthened by providing necessary structural elements such as lintel or lintel bands (i.e., horizontal/vertical bands) around them. Lack of such strengthening techniques may cause the structure to undergo severe damage during the seismic excitations. In this paper, the change in response of RC masonry infilled frames due to the presence of lintels and lintel bands above the openings is studied. For studying the behavior of the frames, static non-linear pushover analysis using Applied Element Method (AEM) based analysis tool has been used.

Keywords: Unreinforced brick masonry infill walls, Lintel, Horizontal bands, Vertical bands, Static non-linear pushover analysis, and Applied Element Method and Finite Element method.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0328019