Shear strengthening of unreinforced masonry walls using GFRP (glass fiber reinforcement polymer) bars

Abstract

Unreinforced masonry (URM) walls exhibits poor seismic performance under moderate and high seismic demand. The present experimental and analytical study, performed on brick masonry panels strengthened by glass fiber reinforcement polymer (GFRP) bars, was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of alternate shear reinforcement technique to reduce seismic damage. A series of three unreinforced masonry (URM) panels and three strengthened panels were subjected to diagonal compression tests according to ASTM E519. Tests were also carried out to determine compression strength of masonry prism, coefficient of friction and bond strength between masonry and mortar. Different reinforcement configurations were evaluated based on analytical studies, to come up with the most effective design for strengthening. The study pointed out that the reinforcement in the diagonal direction increases the effective bond length of the bars intersecting the diagonal crack, thus making the reinforcement design, more effective and more economical. 2012 Cafet-Innova Technical Society.