ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of lateral load experiments on in-filled masonry panels with openings in Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames. The structural characteristics of in-filled masonry panels differ with the material, construction, and the panel-frame interaction. Analytical capacity curve by using the Federal Emergency Management Agency356 (FEMA) model for in-filled masonry panel without opening are compared with the experimental curve. In Taiwan most of the exiting low-rise buildings use RC frames as the skeleton and masonry panels as the partition walls. The specimen with masonry panels showed significantly higher strength and stiffness than the bare frame. The columns in both specimens appeared to have similar flexural crack pattern, suggesting that the frame behaviour was not obviously affected by the masonry panels. Since the FEMA model is intended for in-filled masonry panels with four sides confined within a frame, some modifications were made to be applicable to a panel without confinement on the side adjacent to the opening.
