Recent earthquakes around the world have resulted in loss of human lives and high economic losses due to poor performance of unreinforced masonry constructions as well as poorly-built reinforced concrete framed buildings. This has necessitated alternative building technologies with improved seismic performance. Confined masonry (CM) construction, has shown excellent behavior during past earthquakes across the world and requires similar skill at a marginally higher cost than that of unreinforced masonry. This paper summarizes the main features of generic construction and gains insight into the behavior of CM elements under earthquake excitations, representing a viable alternative for safe and economical construction in seismic areas. The paper discusses various influential aspects like sequence of construction, properties and type of masonry material, structural configuration, reinforcement detailing in tie column/beam and masonry, panel aspect ratio, interface between concrete and masonry, axial stress, multiple confining column, opening in wall panels and damage pattern etc. along with solution to overcome the limitations.
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