Shaking table collapse test on exterior corridor RC frame with infill walls

One 1/4 scaled specimen, whose prototype structure is a teaching building in Xuankou Middle School that collapsed under the Wenchuan earthquake, was tested on the shaking table to study the influence of infilled walls on the seismic collapse resistance of the exterior corridor RC frame. The complete collapse process and failure mechanism of the test model were obtained and studied. In the process of collapse, the bottom columns on the side of the classroom are damaged at first. The local damage to columns is focused at the top and the half-height of infill walls and the plastic hinge is obviously formed. When the bottom columns on the side of the classroom lose their vertical load-carrying capacity, the remaining columns fail subsequently. The bottom story of the frame collapses completely, resulting in a wide range of story-by-story collapse, which is consistent with the seismic damage investigation results. Subsequently, two numerical models of the exterior corridor RC frame with and without infill walls were established by ABAQUS. The distribution and development of shear force of bottom columns and plastic hinges were analyzed, which reveal that the restraint effect of half-height infill walls on the columns has a great influence on the structural damage mechanism. And the design suggestions for considering the lateral stiffness of infill walls and avoiding rigid connection between half-height infill walls and columns are also recommended.