Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of Infilled RC Frames with Different Binding Methods

Cyclic reversed loading tests were conducted on three full-scale infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames with concrete hollow blocks. The main purpose was to investigate the effect of binding method on the seismic behavior of the infilled frame structures. Three types of binding methods were involved, including local binding method, through-bar binding method, and reinforced-mortar binding method. Based on the test results, the damage characteristics, hysteretic behavior, skeleton curves, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed. It was indicated from the experiments that, all the specimens experienced a series of failing stages, including cracking of joints, crack propagation, cracking of blocks, and local collapse of the infilled wall. Compared to the local binding method, the through-bar binding method and reinforced-mortar binding method were able to delay or even avoid spalling of the wall blocks, and showed goodresistance to wall collapseand energy dissipation capacity at large drift ratios. Spalling of wall blocks within limited area was observed for the specimen using the through-bar binding method at a drift ratio of 1/25, indicating a favorable binding effect. © 2018, The Editorial Board of Journal of Basic Science and Engineering. All right reserved.