Abstract:The construction method of the damped infill wall (DIW) which was advanced recently is presented, and its principle is also exposed in this paper. Moreover, the behaviors of the bare frame, the frame filled with conventional infill wall (CIW) and the frame filled with DIW under the monotonic-static load are simulated with finite element method. Based on the results, not only the mechanism of the DIW is exposed, but also the performances of the DIW and the CIW are analyzed comparatively. It is found that, the masonry elements of the DIW shift horizontally as a whole when its surrounding sways, and the deformation of the DIW mainly focuses on the softer viscous-elastic layers. In comparison with the CIW, the DIW shows marked improvements in deformation capacity and bears much smaller force. Also, the DIW can provide certain lateral stiffness for the frame which is beneficial to the structural displacement control for minor earthquakes. But its lateral stiffness is much lower than the CIW which means that the DIW can prolong structures’ period notably and reduce structures’ seismic action during earthquakes. Furthermore, the DIW produces much weaker constraint on the lateral deformation of the surrounding frame than the CIW, and is capable of delaying the destruction of the framework with the formation of plastic hinges.