Mechanical characteristics of brick masonry using natural fiber composites

Abstract

Unreinforced masonry (URM) is brittle and most vulnerable to damage in the event of earthquake. The failure of masonry walls during earthquakes lead to the development of new techniques for strengthening. In this context, Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are evolving to retrofit/strengthen both concrete and masonry structures. A novel composite material called textile reinforced mortar (TRM) also known as fiber reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) has been introduced by researchers to alleviate the problems arising from the use of fiber reinforced polymers. The present study is hence focused on comparing the mechanical characteristics of brick masonry using two different strengthening systems (TRM versus FRP). Towards this aim, compressive and flexural strength of brick masonry prisms with FRP and TRM jacketing was evaluated. Inorganic cement based mortar such as Cement granite fines paste with jute textile was used in this work. The experimental results indicated that FRP is more effective compared to TRM and the effectiveness ratio of the two systems is 1.13 and 1.06 for F1 fiber, 1.34 and 1.14 for F2 fiber for compression test on English bond prisms. Significant difference in performance of both the composites was observed in case of flexural strength conducted on brick masonry prisms.