Experimental characterization of the in-plane and out-of-plane behaviour of infill masonry walls

The infill masonry (IM) walls are considered non-structural elements but, when subjected to earthquakes, they tend to interact with the surrounding RC frames, which can result in different failure modes depending on the combination of the in-plane and the out-of-plane behaviour. Therefore, the contribution of infill masonry panels should be considered in the structural response analysis of existing buildings, for which understanding the out-of-plane non-linear behaviour of IM walls is paramount to develop efficient strengthening solutions to prevent and improve their performance in future earthquakes and, consequently, to reduce their seismic vulnerability. In order to obtain further knowledge concerning the out-of-plane response of IM panels, an experimental testing campaign of full scale IM walls was started at the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering LESE by performing three experimental (cyclic and monotonic) out-of-plane tests with and without previous in-plane damage. The general specimen dimensions are representative of those existing in a large portion of the Portuguese building stock according to recent studies. The experimental campaign and test setup will be described and the experimental tests' results will be presented and discussed in the paper, namely in terms of hysteretic force-displacement curves and damage evolution. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.