Diagonal compression testing of masonry panels with irregular texture strengthened with inorganic composites
Marta Del Zoppo, Marco Di Ludovico, Alberto Balsamo, Andrea Prota
Abstract
Abstract Inorganic composites for enhancing the in-plane shear capacity of masonry walls with irregular texture were investigated on twenty-one panels under diagonal compression tests. Three specimens were used as control and twelve specimens were strengthened with two Fibre Reinforced Mortars (FRM-A and FRM-B), characterized by a different content of fibres embedded in the lime-based matrix. The remaining six specimens were strengthened with Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Mortars (FRCM), consisting in a GFRP grid embedded in a fibre reinforced matrix (the same used for FRM-A). The influence of single-side and double-side strengthening configurations on the capacity of strengthened panels was also investigated, to point out the reduction in strengthening effectiveness in case of single-sided applications. The results showed that all the inorganic composites adopted for the strengthening techniques provided a substantial increase of shear capacity. The grid in FRCM strengthened panels played an important role in both strength and deformation capacity at peak. The different fibres content (lower than 50% in weight) in FRM systems slightly affected the overall performance of panels. Finally, analytical predictions of experimental results were reported and discussed and a preliminary analytical model for estimating the FRM shear contribution was proposed, obtaining a good agreement with test results.