PSI - Issue 78

Christoph Butenweg et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1689–1696

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like bricking of traditional infills. In addition to this, installation of the system is sufficiently robust for construction sites.

Fig. 2. Installation steps of the system INODIS.

3. Experimental tests 3.1. Cyclic tests on RC frames with decoupled infills under simultaneous loading

In the scope of the AIF-project 20912 N (2023), a large experimental campaign has been carried out, investigating the performance of RC frames with traditional and decoupled infills under separate and combined in plane and out-of-plane loads, in total of twenty full-scale tests. Herein, the results of the simultaneous in-plane and out-of-plane loads with decoupled masonry infills are compared with traditional infills. The comparison is based on the system configurations presented in Table 1, which include a frame with solid infill (D3), infill with window opening (D6) and infill with door opening (D9). The equivalent traditional systems without decoupling are hereafter denoted as T3, T6 and T9. More detailed descriptions and evaluations of the experimental tests on traditional and decoupled RC frames with masonry infills can be found in Milijaš et al. (2023, 2024). Table 1. Test configurations D3, D6, D9 with decoupling system and loading conditions D3: Solid infilled frame IP + OOP D6: Infilled frame with window opening IP + OOP D9: Infilled frame with door opening IP + OOP 3.1.1 Test set-up, test specimen and test sequence Vertical loads are applied to the RC frame columns using 600 kN hydraulic actuators connected to pressure accumulators for constant force. The actuators are mounted on the columns and transfer vertical loads via a steel traverse and steel tie rods anchored to the strong floor. Cyclic in-plane loading is applied using two servo-hydraulic actuators (250 kN each, ±20 cm stroke), connected between a reaction wall and the top beam of the RC frame. Out of-plane loading is generated by four airbags (each 60 tons at 8 bar), placed between the infill and a stiff timber reaction wall. The decoupling system is installed in the RC frame with vertical elastomer strips 50 mm thick. The horizontally arranged elastomers at the top and bottom, which have higher stiffness, are 15 mm thick. For these tests, a sliding surface is provided only at the top of the wall. The RC frame is designed as an outer frame in a representative five-storey building according to EN 1992-1-1 (2004) and EN 1998-1 (2004) in DC1. The configurations with openings were carried out using the same frame. The RC frame was constructed using concrete