Seismic behaviour of infilled and pilotis RC frame structures with beam-column joint degradation effect

The influence of the exterior joints capacity deterioration on the local and global failure mechanisms of reinforced concrete structures with infills is investigated. Exterior beam-column joints with reduced capacity is the common case for the majority of RC structures designed according to older design standards. Nevertheless in common practise the response of these regions is typically assumed as rigid. A key parameter of this investigation is the inclusion of the joints strength and stiffness degradation in the study of the seismic performance of the structures. In this direction, a special-purpose rotational spring element that incorporates a special behaviour model is employed for the simulation of the exterior joints’ local response. The spring element has been incorporated in a well-established general program for nonlinear static and dynamic analysis. The effectiveness of the used joint element model has been demonstrated in a previous paper through comparisons with experimental data reported in literature. In this paper an attempt is presented for the investigation of the influence of the exterior joint damage on the seismic behaviour of bare and infilled RC frame structures. Two types of masonry infilled structures are considered: (a) infilled frame and (b) infilled frame without infills at the base storey (pilotis frame). A parametrical study of the overall seismic response using push over analyses and step-by-step analyses is performed. Results in terms of interstorey drifts, base shear, failure mode, ductility requirements and joints rotational requirements demonstrate that neglecting the possible local damage of the exterior joints may lead to erroneous conclusions and unsafe design or seismic behaviour evaluation that subsequently may become critical in some cases. Furthermore the influence of exterior joints degradation has been proven of vital importance for the overall behaviour of pilotis frames.