Out-of-plane strengthening of masonry walls with FRCM composite materials

Structural strengthening by using composite materials proved to be one of the most suitable solutions for reinforcing masonry buildings. In this framework, the focus point of the presented experimental study is to evaluate the out-of-plane behaviour of masonry walls strengthened with Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) composites when subjected to horizontal actions, by analyzing and discussing failure modes and their out-of-plane capacity. To this purpose, a new experimental set-up was developed, capable of applying an axial force and out-of-plane horizontal actions on full-scale masonry panels, placed in vertical position and subjected to a stress state similar to that present on a real masonry wall. Experimental results, obtained by using traditional and innovative techniques (such as Digital Image Correlation), will be compared with those coming from more conventional tensile and bond tests performed on FRCM coupons applied on masonry substrates, making use of simple theoretical models.