摘要
It is widely acknowledged that masonry walls in RC （reinforced concrete） frame structures, although often omitted in the design process, contribute significantly on the seismic resistance of buildings. Their contribution toward seismic response improvement is proportional to their participation level on buildings. The more abundant they are on buildings, their lateral strength contribution gets more significant, especially for ＂frame systems＂ of both RC and steel structures. This paper presents an ＂innovative＂ solution which aims to provide a seismic protection to masonry walls and to improve the seismic performance of the entire building structure. These goals are achieved through use of so called ＂IDRIZI＂ seismic devices. These ＂box-like＂ devices are placed at characteristic locations between the masonry infill walls and the structural frame system of the building. They act as special link elements between the top of wall panels and the bottom of beams and/or slabs. The assemblage of a wall panel, IDRIZI seismic devices and other boundary structural elements forms an integral structural system that is shortly called ＂IDRIZI＂ wall system. In addition, as part of this paper is shown selected experimental investigations, which demonstrate that under ＂optimal design＂ of buildings integrated with IDRIZI wall system, up to 80% of earthquake energy input in the structure can be dissipated by the friction mechanism of the IDRIZI devices. This feature provides remarkable improvements on the seismic performance of residential buildings or any other type of building where masonry walls are abundantly present.
