Diagonal compression tests on masonry walls strengthened with a GFRP mesh reinforced mortar coating

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a broad experimental investigation conducted through diagonal compression tests on masonry specimens strengthened with a mortar coating applied on both surfaces of the wall and reinforced with a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) mesh. Four types of masonry, three different types of masonry mortar and five diverse GFRP meshes for the reinforcement were considered. In particular, solid brick masonry 250 and 380 mm thick, two-leaf brick masonry with rubble conglomerate infill and rubble stone masonry were tested. The diagonal compression tests, performed on 60 square masonry specimens with loading-unloading cycles up to the collapse, evidenced a good effectiveness of the strengthening technique in terms of both resistance and ductility. Results also showed the resistance increment in reinforced samples is generally greater for weaker masonry types and, referring to a single masonry type, for specimens built with a weaker mortar. Furthermore, the different GFRP meshes influenced very little the resistance of specimens, but higher reinforcement contents induced a lower decrease of the diagonal load after the cracking

Assessment Method for Combined Structural and Energy Retrofitting in Masonry Buildings

“…FRP are helpful in reducing the impact of the above techniques [33,34]. FRP are used for external surface reinforcements [35] or to create internal frames inside the masonry system [36]. The use of polymers to strengthen masonry subjected to blast loads has been reviewed in [37] with an experimental data set collected from several papers.…”

In Plane Behaviour of Masonry Walls Reinforced with Mortar Coatings and Fibre Meshes

“…The proposed theory of FRM shear resistance based on the modified Mohr-Coulomb limit curve is verified against a very large experimental set of data presented by Gattesco, Boem, and Dudine (2015), and . The experimental campaign included brick, cobble stone and rubble stone walls reinforced with different mesh types.…”

“…8 for the two fibre sizes S and D are reported in Table 7. It is however to point out that in Gattesco, Boem, and Dudine (2015), similar wires at different spacing present non coherent tensile strengths, probably due to a different machining of the meshes. The data of Table 9 are computed with properties for the S and D wires very similar to the previous one.…”

“…In what follows the data presented by and Gattesco, Boem and Dudine (2015) will be used as an independent check of the proposed interpretation of the FRM reinforced masonry panels under diagonal loading. The comparison shows clearly the high predictive capability of the proposed theory.…”

Durability of GFRP grids for masonry structures

“…Tinazzi et al (2000) and Tumialan et al (2001) used FRP bars to reinforce the horizontal joints of masonry walls. Recently, several researches have concentrated their attention on the investigation of new techniques to retrofit and strengthen masonry buildings using Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) grids (Borri et al, 2014a;Borri et al, 2014b;Corradi et al, 2014;Gattesco et al, 2014). Alternative innovative composite materials have also being developed.…”