Ingrid Boem

Experimental Behavior of Masonry Vaults Strengthened with Thin Extradoxal or Intradoxal Layer of Fiber Reinforced Lime Mortar

The results of a first experimental research program on masonry vaults strengthened by means of GFRP meshes embedded in a thin layer of lime mortar, are herein presented. The tests were designed to reproduce the pattern of a transversal horizontal load proportional to the vault self-weight. The typical simplified loading patterns generally used for the experimental tests concern concentrated vertical loads at the crown section or at 1/4 of the span, but some numerical investigations evidenced that these configurations are not able to reproduce the actual behavior and the effectiveness of the reinforcement. So a specific rig was designed to apply the horizontal load pattern.Solid brick masonry barrel vaults were considered (thickness 120 mm, arch span 4000 mm, arch rise/radius = 0.75). Three quasi-static cyclic tests were performed: the first concerned an unreinforced vault, the second a vault reinforced at the extrados through the application of a mortar coating reinforced with a GFRP mesh and the third reinforced at the intrados surface with the same technique. The experimental results demonstrated the technique effectiveness and the important increment of ductility of the vaults.

Seismic enhancement of masonry buildings strengthened through GFRP reinforced mortar coating

The reduction of seismic vulnerability of existing masonry buildings through the application on the walls of a mortar coating reinforced with a GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer) mesh is studied and discussed. Numerous experimental tests, carried out by the authors, demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for enhancing the mechanical response of the walls, both subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane actions. In the study, the capacity curves of an existing unreinforced masonry building are compared with those of the same building strengthened with the GFRP reinforced mortar coating technique. An almost regular two storey building is considered in the numerical study and it is analyzed by adopting the method of the equivalent frame. Two different types of masonry are considered in the study: solid bricks and rubble stones. Static nonlinear analyses are carried out and the nonlinearity of the material of the wall elements (piers and spandrels) is considered through the introduction of plastic hinges in the plane of the masonry wall. The results evidence a significant increase in terms of shear resistance, displacement capacity and total strain energy. The collapse due to bending of piers in most cases of strengthened buildings occurred before than the ultimate shear drift was obtained.

Comparison of In-Plane Mechanical Performances of Masonry Walls Strengthened with Different Mortar Coatings Reinforced with Glass or Carbon Fiber Composite Meshes

The results of some diagonal compression tests performed on solid brick masonry samples (1160x1160x250 mm3) to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of different shear reinforcement techniques for existing masonry based of the application, on both sides of the wall, of a mortar coating layer reinforced with fiber composite meshes are presented and discussed in the paper. In particular, 30 mm and 10 mm thick mortar coatings, made of three different mortar types and reinforced by means of both glass and carbon-fibers composite meshes were considered. Significant resistance increases (about 110%) were attained in respect to plain masonry; moreover, it emerged that the meshes are able to prevent the masonry brittle collapse, absorbing tensile stresses in the cracked areas. By maintaining constant the coating thickness, better mortar characteristics determined an increase of the resistance increment ratio but a more rapid decrease of resistance after peak. Similar performances were attained by samples characterized by approximately constant values of shear stiffness and diagonal compression resistance. The differences attributable to the different type of meshes resulted minimal, due to the similar reinforcement percentage.

Pushover analysis based on equivalent diagonal springs for the assessment of the seismic safety of post-and-beam timber buildings braced with nailed shear walls

A method for a simplified modeling of post-and-beam timber buildings braced with nailed shear walls, useful for seismic design purposes, is presented and discussed in the paper. This strategy is based on the schematization of the vertical diaphragms through equivalent diagonal springs with elastic-plastic behavior and allows the assessment of the resisting ground acceleration by performing nonlinear static analysis; the Capacity Spectrum method based on equivalent viscous damping was applied. This nonlinear procedure constitutes a reliable and simple alternative to the linear static analysis using the behavior factor q. The procedures to determine the characteristics of the equivalent elements (stiffness and load-carrying capacity) are based on analytical evaluations, starting from the actual characteristic of shear walls. A comparison between the results of numerical simulation based of more refined and complex models, previously presented by the authors, and this time-reducing, simplified analysis proved the good reliability of the method.

Masonry Vaults Subjected To Horizontal Loads: Experimental and Numerical Investigations to Evaluate the Effectiveness of A GFRM Reinforcement

The paper investigates the effectiveness of a modern reinforcement technique based on a Glass Fiber-Reinforced Mortar (GFRM) for the enhancement of the performances of existing masonry vaults subjected to horizontal seismic actions. In fact, the authors recently evidenced, through numerical simulations, that the typical simplified loading patterns generally adopted in the literature for the experimental tests, based on concentrated vertical loads at 1/4 of the span, are not reliable for such a purpose, due to an unrealistic stress distribution. Thus, experimental quasi-static cyclic tests on full-scale masonry vaults based on a specific setup, designed to apply a horizontal load pattern proportional to the mass, were performed. Three samples were tested: an unreinforced vault, a vault reinforced at the extrados and a vault reinforced at the intrados. The experimental results demonstrated the technique effectiveness in both strength and ductility. Moreover, numerical simulations were performed by adopting a simplified FE, smear-crack model, evidencing the good reliability of the prediction by comparison with the experimental results.