Verification of seismic resistance of confined masonry buildings

Two models of a typical confined masonry building, which conforms to the requirements of Eurocode 8 for simple buildings, have been tested on a shaking-table. Model test results indicate that prototypes of the tested type and size will be able to withstand, with moderate damage to the walls, strong earthquakes with peak ground acceleration 0.8g, and will not collapse when subjected to repeated shaking with PGA more than 1.3g. Taking into consideration the observed predominant first vibration mode shape and shear-beam-type shape of vibration, a rational method for seismic resistance verification of confined masonry structures has been proposed, modelling the confined masonry shear walls as frames. Good correlation between experimental and calculated envelopes has been obtained, indicating the validity of the proposed method. The measured response of the models has also been used to analyse the value of behaviour factor q proposed by EC 8 for confined masonry structures. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.