Out-of-plane behaviour of masonry wall strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)

The masonry walls are widely used in all over the world, especially in historical buildings. Strengthening of the masonry walls is one of the important issues to investigate for the researchers. There are some methods to improve the masonry walls' in-plane or out-of-plane resistance capacities against static or dynamic loading. Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) application is one of these methods used to increase the bearing capacity of masonry walls. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) for strengthening the masonry walls. In the study, the out-of-plane failure mechanism of masonry walls, which is frequently encountered during earthquakes, was discussed. Ten 100 mm x 410 mm x 1200 mm masonry walls were fabricated for experimental study. Solid brick that has the dimensions of 50 mm x 100 mm x 200 mm was used in the production of the masonry walls. For mortar, repair mortar was used for ease of production. Nine of the test specimens were strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Application form of the CFRP (as strip or full layer) and number of layers were adopted as test parameters. Masonry wall specimens were tested under the effect of bending, applying three-point loading. During the experiments the measurements of load and displacement were taken. The behavior of the masonry walls were assessed in terms of ultimate load, the displacement corresponding to the ultimate load, stiffness, and energy dissipation capacity. According to the results obtained, it is concluded that the strengthened masonry walls with CFRP are quite successful against the out-of-plane collapse mechanism. It is thought that the findings of this study can serve as a guide for engineers and architects that have an interest in strengthening masonry walls.