Structural seismic capacity optimization by considering the allowed failure of infills

At present, seismic design method of buildings has made a great development. However, seismic performance between infill walls and structural components was not much considered in China. By means of many post-earthquake investigations, infill walls are easily and widely damaged to a different extent. In this paper, construction measures of infill walls are discussed and collapse simulation of infilled frame without construction measures is carried out by ANSYS/LS-DYNA software. The results show that it is very important to connect infills with frame components by setting steel tie bars. Then, the allowed failure of infills (AFI) is defined and ultimate states of AFI are presented. Also, performance objectives and performance levels of AFI are provided according to the research. On the basis of above, structural seismic capacity optimization is conducted by considering the function of AFI. Pushover analysis will be carried out to find the weak positions of structures, which offer the information for the arrangement of AFI. The results of the example indicate that the global seismic capacity of infilled frames is greatly improved by considering the function of AFI after optimization. Also, the ultimate states of AFI are clear after suffering.