Experimental and numerical investigation on the seismic performance of masonry walls reinforced by PC panels

The use of precast reinforced concrete (PC) panels to strengthen existing old masonry structures was presented in this study. Quasi-static tests were done on one unreinforced masonry wall and three reinforced wall specimens with varied connection forms to study the seismic performance of the masonry walls reinforced by PC panels and verify the effectiveness of the applied connection forms. The hysteretic response of all reinforced masonry walls differed significantly when different connection forms were applied, according to experimental results. Based on the experimental results, the proposed reinforcement method using one-sided connected PC panels can effectively improve the seismic performance of existing masonry walls in terms of shear strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity. Finally, the numerical simulation models for the specimens were established to further investigate the damage mechanisms, and the hysteresis curves and failure modes of specimens obtained from numerical analysis were in good agreement with the experimental results, indicating that the proposed analytical model can be practically used to predict the performance of masonry structures strengthened by the new reinforcement technique.