Performance of Prefabricated Foam Concrete as Infilled Wall Under Cyclic Lateral Loading

Every year earthquakes occur in various regions in Indonesia because Indonesia is located near earthquake faults. The cyclic lateral loading test in the laboratory has been widely used to simulate lateral loads caused by earthquake events. This research is an experimental study on the behavior of prefabricated foam concrete as an infill wall against lateral cyclic loads. Prefabricated foam concrete was used in this study to make it an alternative to brick and autoclaved lightweight concrete (ALC) blocks that have been widely used as infill walls. This study analyzes the relationship between performance levels, lateral loads and drifts ratio on RC infilled prefabricated foam concrete. Lateral cyclic loading with displacement control method was applied to evaluate the structural behavior where the test refers to ASTM E2126-02a. This study adopts FEMA 273, which regulates the performance levels to be achieved by the structure of a building. The results showed that at performance levels Operational Level (OL), Immediate Occupancy (IO) and Life Safety (LS), the RC frame infilled with prefabricated foam concrete blocks had a drift ratio of 0.2%, 1.2% and 2.4%, respectively. Damage to the RC frame infilled with prefabricated foam concrete blocks was similar to the masonry infilled RC frame.