Theoretical study of hybrid masonry : RC structure behaviour under lateral earthquake loading

Abstract

A confined masonry (CM) wall consists of a masonry wall panel surrounded by reinforced concrete (RC) members on its perimeters. Low-rise CM structures are widely used in earthquake-risked (EQ-risked) rural or suburban areas all over the world. Most of these structures fail in shear pattern under lateral EQ loads, and some of them collapse under a severe or even a moderate EQ due to inappropriate design. On the other hand, buildings constructed of RC frames have much better performance in resisting EQs, since their RC members have larger dimensions and heavier reinforcing ratios than those in CM structures. Nonetheless, RC-frame buildings are normally too expensive for most inhabitants in less developed regions. In this study, as an improvement to the conventional CM buildings for EQ resistance and for the sake of post-EQ restoration, a hybrid masonry – RC (HMR) structure, whose working mechanism is different from that of a conventional CM structure, is proposed. The RC members (i.e. “tie beams” and “tie columns”), which function only as confinement in a CM building, will resist most of gravity load and part of lateral EQ load in an HMR structure, while the wall panels will take most of lateral EQ load and part of gravity load. This is achievable by slightly increasing the sizes and reinforcing ratios of RC members in HMR structures. Such buildings will not collapse in the absence of masonry wall panels because the gravity load bearing system is still intact. On the other hand, as the wall panels in the proposed HMR structure will absorb most of the energy induced by lateral EQ load, severe damages will be controlled within the wall panel region, so that only the wall panels need to be replaced instead of rebuilding the whole structure after the EQ event. To investigate the mechanical behaviours of masonry assemblages to be used in HMR structures, a series of experimental tests were conducted. Having established the relevant material properties for HMR structures, finite element (FE) simulation was performed to verify its work mechanism. Prior to applying the FE simulation to HMR structures, the FE technique was first applied to simulate the behaviours of two concrete-brick masonry panels under diagonal compression loading and a CM wall under cyclic lateral loading. The results show a good correlation between the experimental results and the simulated ones. This has validated the feasibility of using the FE software to study the proposed HMR structure. The theoretical simulation results show that in a properly designed HMR wall, depending on the masonry reinforcing details and the boundary conditions of simulated load cases, about 70% of the gravity load imposed on the RC beam will be transferred to the RC columns and more than 80% of the seismic energy (in terms of strain energy) will be absorbed by the masonry panel. Therefore, it is obvious that the proposed HMR structure is very feasible to replace the conventional CM structure in resisting EQ attacks with no risk of collapse.