RESEARCH ARTICLE


Distinct Element Modeling of Masonry-Infilled Steel Frames with Openings



Amin Mohebkhah*, 1, A. A. Tasnimi2
Struct. Eng. Dept., Faculty of Civil and Architectural Eng., Malayer University, Malayer, Iran.
2Structural Eng. Div., Faculty of Civil & Env. Eng., Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran


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Creative Commons License
© Mohebkhah et al.; Licensee Bentham Open

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Struct. Eng. Dept., Faculty of Civil and Architectural Eng., Malayer University, Malayer, Iran. Tel: +98 0851 2232346; Fax: +98 0851 2221977; E-mail: amoheb@malayeru.ac.ir


Abstract

Numerical analysis of masonry-infilled steel frames (MISFs) is one of the greatest challenges faced by structural engineers. This difficulty results from the presence of joints as the source of discontinuities and nonlinearities as well as the interaction of frame-infill panel. In spite of many studies performed on numerical modeling of solid MISFs, there are few studies on MISFs with openings. A 2D numerical model using the specialized distinct element software UDEC (2004) for the pushover analysis of MISFs with openings is developed. In this model, large displacements and rotations between masonry bricks are taken into account. A comparison between the results of distinct element modeling and the experimental results available in the literature showed a good correlation between them. Furthermore, It was found that the model has the capability to predict lateral load capacity, joint cracking patterns and explore the possible failure modes of MISFs with openings.

Keywords: Masonry-infilled steel frame, distinct element method, opening, pushover analysis, numerical modeling, micro-modeling.