Structural damage assessment of a reinforced concrete building with short column damage in the Sivrice (Elazığ) earthquake on january 24,2020

The research focuses on the impact of infill walls, which are often neglected in the design and analysis of reinforced concrete structures, in countries located in seismically active regions like Turkey. These studies indicate that infill walls can significantly affect the behavior of reinforced concrete structures. However, it is emphasized that not only solid infill walls but also partially infilled walls should be taken into consideration in structural design and analysis. Partially infilled walls are walls that are included in the load-bearing system of the structure but not fully covered with infill. This thesis addresses the necessity of considering partially infilled walls in the design of reinforced concrete structures and presents a study based on the investigation of a heavily damaged 5-story apartment building, which was subjected to the 6.8 Mw earthquake that occurred on January 24, 2020, in Sivrice/Elazığ, Turkey. In the study, only strip window infills are considered as partially infilled walls. Nonlinear time history analysis method is applied using the East-West and South-North data obtained from the 2308(Sivrice), 4404(Malatya), and 2301(Elazığ-Center) stations for the Elazığ earthquake. In addition, SeismoStruct (v2022 building analysis program) is used to analytically calculate the nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete elements and the materials, including concrete and reinforcement. The analysis results confirm that partially infilled walls and the presence of partial gaps on them can cause captive column effects in columns. The observed field results are consistent with the analysis results. This study highlights the importance of considering partially infilled walls in the design of reinforced concrete structures and recommends further research in this area.