Low-rise confined masonry structures are widely used in earthquake-risked rural areas. Most of these structures fail in shear pattern under lateral earthquake loading. In this study, as an improvement for earthquake resistance and post-quake restoration, a masonry – reinforced concrete (RC) hybrid structure, whose working mechanism is different from that of its predecessor, is proposed. The “tie beams” and ‘tie columns”, which function only as confinement in a conventional confined masonry wall structure, now also resist most of the gravity loading, while the wall panels take the rest of it. On the other hand, wall panels in the proposed hybrid structure will absorb most of the energy induced by lateral earthquake loading by the formation of a plastic hinge region in the panel center so that severe damages can be controlled within the wall panel region. To investigate shear behaviors of masonry walls, diagonal compression tests were performed and finite element simulation was utilized to verify the work mechanism of this hybrid structure.
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