Application of ordinary fiber-reinforced concrete layer in in-plane retrofitting of unreinforced masonry walls: Test and modeling

The masonry walls should have suffcient in-plane strength and stiffness to withstand the seismic loads during strong ground shakings. Different retrofftting techniques have been proposed for improving in-plane behavior of the unreinforced masonry (URM) walls. This study focuses on experimental evaluation and numerical simulation of a simple practical retrofftting technique employing Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) surface layer. The simple FRC mix has conventional and available fiber, low fiber content, ordinary mix design, and applicable construction procedure. Effects of FRC mix properties, including fiber type, fiber content, and surface layer thickness, on in-plane behavior of masonry panels made up of conventional solid clay bricks are evaluated through experimental study in accordance with ASTM E-519 diagonal tension strength of masonry panels. In addition, a numerical simulation model for this retrofitting technique in ABAQUS software is proposed and validated with test results of bare and retrofitted panels.