Framed Infill Network
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A concrete framed building with unreinforced masonry infill in Kathmandu, Nepal. On the side of the building, the grey concrete columns and beams are visible while the walls have been filled in with red, unreinforced bricks.
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International network of collaborators
(2011-)
THE PROBLEM:
In the last decade, tens of thousands of people have been killed in earthquakes during the collapse of buildings made of concrete frames with unreinforced masonry infill walls. These buildings are designed as bare concrete frame buildings, with the masonry infill walls considered as architectural features that as a result are not properly reinforced or considered in the seismic design of the structure.
Ignoring the stiff and heavy infill walls creates weaknesses that can cause these buildings to collapse in an earthquake. For example, in a building with few walls in the shops or parking area at the ground story and many walls in the apartments above, all the earthquake damage will tend to concentrate in the weaker, more flexible ground story which was not designed to withstand such high forces. To make matters worse, the reinforced concrete frames themselves may not have been designed or built to resist earthquakes, making the building even more vulnerable.
Despite the danger of existing infill buildings, they are one of the world's most common building types, and are prevalent in cities located in zones of high seismic hazard in both developing and industrialized countries. Because of the need for rapid construction in growing cities, and because of the low construction cost and ease of building these structures, people in a number of earthquake-threatened urban areas in Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean likely will continue to build infill buildings for the foreseeable future. It is imperative, therefore, that specifically designed methods of constructing infill buildings are developed to make them safer and more earthquake-resistant.
GHI'S RESPONSE:
With funding from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and The National Academies, GHI formed the Framed Infill Network: a network of earthquake engineering researchers and professionals interested in improving the behavior of concrete frames with infill walls.
The network members will focus on developing methods of construction where the infill is intentionally designed to help buildings resist earthquakes . GHI expects that, with appropriate guidance, engineers and builders can make relatively modest changes to their current practices to create new or retrofitted buildings that intentionally make beneficial use of infill walls to achieve earthquake safety benefits. Buildings using these new beneficial measures would be called "framed infill buildings."
The Framed Infill Network will promote and coordinate international collaboration among researchers, engineers in practice, architects, builders, and building officials. The network's members, who will work mostly in small groups or individually and collaborate electronically, will conduct research, engineering design, construction, education, outreach and training. The Framed Infill Network will ultimately strive to change how concrete frames with infill are designed and built in order to improve earthquake safety around the world., , and.
Anticipated Results From Initial Activities:
- Draft engineering design document for new framed infill buildings
- Published review of the technical literature on infill buildings
- Working document outlining research needs for infill buildings
- Website for information sharing and dissemination
- Improved collaboration among researchers and practicing professionals interested in improving the seismic safety of concrete buildings with infill walls
