Historical masonry wallets with plaster slabs strengthened by CrFRM and GFRP

Knowledge concerning the response of historic masonry to cyclic shear loading is fundamental for defining the behaviour of existing masonry buildings under seismic actions. Walls under cycle shear are known to be diagonally cracked due to low tensile strength of masonry. Many mechanical and geometric parameters influence the shear response of brickwork walls. One aspect too often underestimated is the presence of plaster on the external surface of walls. In this paper, experimental response and failure mechanisms of historic brickwork wallets, without plaster and with lime plaster reinforced by fibres, have been investigated under tensile tests by diagonal compression. The wallets have been strengthened with mortar reinforced by chrome fibres (CrFRM) and with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) net. The experiments were carried out previously on materials and triplets to define the strength of unreinforced masonry under compression and shear. Experimental results are shown obtaining shear criteria useful in practice.