Shaking table tests of a one-quarter scale model of concrete hollow block masonry houses retrofitted with fiber-reinforced paint

Abstract

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are prone to significant damage when subjected to ground motion. Some strengthening methods have been proposed to increase the seismic capacity. However, the widespread adoption of these methods faces various challenges, including economic constraints experienced by common people in developing countries, the complexity of implementation, efficiency, and seismic safety of each technique. This paper introduces a new retrofitting method of fiber-reinforced paint using fiberglass as the primary reinforcing material. The advantage of this technique lies in its simplicity and ease of application, with the added benefit of using the paint to improve the appearance of the house. Two 1:4 scale concrete hollow block (CHB) masonry houses were constructed to represent unreinforced masonry and retrofitted masonry structures using fiber-reinforced paint (FR-Paint). The shaking table test results indicate that the retrofitted house model showed improvements of up to 18 times in deformation capacity and up to 13 times in energy dissipation compared to the non-retrofitted house model. FR-Paint has a robust performance even in high input motion at a seismic intensity JMA of 7 (Japan Meteorological Agency). This confirms that this retrofitting method has a high earthquake-resistant performance.