This paper presents experimental investigation of the effectiveness of different strengthening techniques applied around openings in unreinforced brick masonry walls. An experimental program is conducted where 18 masonry walls of dimensions 1200x1200x110 mm were built using clay brick units and cement mortar. Different
strengthening techniques such as glass reinforced polymers sheets and strips, nearsurface mounted steel bars and ferro-cement layer were made around the intended opening. In-plane loading is applied vertically on the top of the walls up to the service load level, an opening having dimensions 400x800 mm is made in the wall, then the load is gradually increased until failure. The experimental results of load-displacement behavior, ultimate capacity, cracking pattern and failure mode are presented and discussed. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of all the studied
strengthening schemes in increasing the wall strength. The ferro-cement overlay was demonstrated to be the most efficient and also economic strengthening scheme. The failure load is almost equal to that of the unopened wall, thus the opening made in the wall do not cause decrease in the wall capacity. |
