Usage of ferrocement jacketing for strengthening of damaged unreinforced masonry (URM) walls

Abstract

In this paper, it is presented the usage of ferrocement jacketing technique as an effective method to improve structural performance of unreinforced masonry panels. Nine diagonal compression tests were conducted on plain, pre-cracked repaired and reinforced masonry panels on six specimen with nominal dimensions of 1.2 x 1.2 x 0.25 m, built and tested in laboratory. The results of the diagonal compression tests were compared in terms of increase in shear strength, drift and the mode of failure. Additionally, finite element modelling using discrete micro-modelling and non-linear analyses were performed using midas FX+ for DIANA 9.6 commercial software to simulate the behavior of plain and reinforced panels. As a result, it was observed that ferrocement jacketing made a considerable improvement in shear strength and deformation capacity for both, repaired and reinforced masonry panels.