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Simplified Macro-Model for Non-Interactive Masonry Infill Walls
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DOI：10.1080/13632469.2026.2685685.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Masonry infill walls are known to significantly influence the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures, often introducing undesirable stiffness irregularities and brittle failure mechanisms when their interaction with the surrounding frame is not properly controlled. In response to these issues, the second generation of Eurocode 8 introduces the concept of non-interactive (NINT) infill walls, conceived to minimise infill – frame interaction while preserving structural safety. This paper proposes a simplified macro-model to simulate the in-plane seismic behaviour of NINT masonry infill walls, implemented in OpenSees. The model concentrates the nonlinear response of the infill system in a single horizontal hysteretic element, enabling a physically grounded yet computationally efficient representation suitable for performance-based assessment. The proposed formulation is validated against experimental results from a reduced-scale RC frame with full-size NINT infills, showing good agreement in terms of initial stiffness, peak strength, and post-peak degradation. The validated model is subsequently employed in a numerical study of a four-storey, three-bay RC frame, considering multiple infill distribution scenarios and comparing interactive and NINT infill solutions. The results from modal and nonlinear static analyses show that interactive infills increase the maximum base shear by up to 2.2 times that of the bare frame, while inducing brittle behaviour and drift concentration. In contrast, using a NINT infills the seismic response closer to that of the bare frame, with a limited increase in lateral strength (typically below 25%) but substantially larger displacement capacity, with target displacements up to 35–50% larger, depending on the seismic return period. A sensitivity analysis on the infill – frame gap size confirms that reasonable variations in gap width have a secondary but non-negligible effect on displacement demand, without altering the governing deformation mechanisms. Overall, the results demonstrate that NINT infill walls provide an effective strategy to control infill – frame interaction, reducing uncertainty and brittle response while preserving deformation capacity, in line with the objectives of the new Eurocode 8 framework.
Keywords:
Non-interactive masonry infill walls
infill–frame interaction
numerical modelling
reinforced concrete frames
pushover analyses
sensitivity analysis
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