There are few finite element studies in the literature on the behaviour of masonry-infilled steel
frames under cyclic loading, and most of them established complicated three-dimensional
models. In this paper, a simplified finite element two-dimensional shell model of masonry-infilled
steel frames under cyclic loading was developed. Element types and material constitutive model
of cyclic plasticity were described. To simulate the actual behaviour of these frames, the
interactions between the frame and the infill panel were accurately modelled. The proposed
model was compared with previously proposed by another researcher three-dimensional solid
model, then the two models were verified by typical quasi-static test results for infilled steel
frames. The suggested model proved its capability for predicting the actual behaviour and
failure modes of steel frames with masonry infills. In terms of CPU time, the two-dimensional
shell model is greatly more effective than the three-dimensional solid one