Creep of concrete masonry walls strengthened with FRP composites

Abstract

The objective of the research was to examine the creep behavior of masonry walls strengthened with FRP composites compared to that of conventional reinforcement. Eight full-scale (40 in wide by 96 in tall [1.02 m × 2.44 m]) unreinforced concrete masonry walls were constructed for testing long-term deflections out-of-plane. The walls were strengthened with externally bonded CFRP or GFRP composites. Two additional walls were constructed with mild steel reinforcement grouted in the center cell of the specimens. Long-term deflections due to creep in FRP reinforced walls were shown to be ≈22–56% higher than those of steel reinforced walls.