Seismic Strengthening of RC Frame and Brick Infill Panel using Ferrocement and Expanded Metal

This paper presents the strengthening of reinforced concrete frame and brick infill panel by using ferrocement technique reinforced with expanded metal. Analytical models of the strengthened frame and infill panel were proposed. An experimental study on the strengthened frames was conducted to verify the proposed models. Two control specimens and two strengthened specimens were compared: the bare frame and the infilled frame. Special strengthening techniques were employed to protect against two major failures: the beam and columns of the frame were fully strengthened to prevent shear failure, and the infill panel was protected against corner compression failure. The frames were investigated under constant vertical load and lateral cyclic load. The seismic behavior of the retrofit frames was compared with the control specimens. The strengthened frames showed the significant increase of strength up to 64% and 87%, and the ductility capacity was also improved 77% and 66% for the bare frame and the infilled frame, respectively. The proposed model of strengthening for the frame and infill panel predicted the lateral resistance of the RC infilled frame with a reasonable accuracy when compared to the observed experimental results