Modelling of Deformable Polymer to be Used for Joints between Infill Masonry Walls and R.C. Frames

In the paper an idea to use a deformable polymer material for the joint between R.C. frames and masonry infills is presented. As an early step of testing the idea, experimental tests of the polymer in monotonic uniaxial tension at different load rates are performed and analyzed. The load rates range from very fast (8.3 mm/s) to very slow (0.00083 mm/s). The material exhibits a very strong strain rate effect and viscous behavior. In the second part of the paper a numerical model is developed and implemented into a finite element to simulate the results of the tests. The model is based on a new family of strain measures, called the Darjani-Naghdabadi strain measures and a classical viscosity formulation. Almost perfect model predictions up to collapse at 50-150 % elongation are obtained by using calibration based on minimization of error.