Effects of basalt and glass fiber composites usage for strengthening on the cyclic behavior of brick infill walls

Abstract

In the current study, the effects of 10 mm bilaterally applied basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BRC) and glass fiber reinforced concrete (GRC) plasters with different fiber content (1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0%) on the behavior of the brick infill walls were investigated. For this purpose, strengthened brick infill walls placed in a hinged steel frame on all four corners were examined comparatively with their non-plastered and ordinary cement plastered conditions under cyclic loading. The load carrying capacities, displacement ductility, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacities of infill walls were determined using obtained results. The test results showed that brick walls with 1.0% glass fiber and 2.0% basalt fiber content showed the best performance in terms of load carrying and energy dissipation capacity. Also brick wall with 1.0% glass fiber content has the lowest stiffness degradation decrease at the ultimate drift ratio. In addition to all these, it has been observed that the mechanical behavior of the walls strengthened with plasters containing different percentages of fiber has improved considerably compered to non-plastered and ordinary cement plastered brick walls. This situation reveals that basalt and glass fiber plasters can be used to strengthen the walls. It is recommended that this method can be used quickly and effectively in the reinforcement of masonry structures, which have a large amount in the existing building stock.