Experimental and numerical investigations of masonry panels reinforced with natural grid textiles

Italiano

Michela Basili presenterà il seminario:

The presentation discusses experimental and numerical investigations of tuff masonry panels
strengthened with externally bonded natural textiles composite materials combined with a
mortar-based matrix. The innovative reinforcement, known as Basalt Textile-Reinforced
Mortar (BTRM), utilizes a basalt textile grid embedded in a natural hydraulic lime mortar.
BTRM represents an effective strengthening solution especially when reversibility,
compatibility and sustainability are crucial issues for the selection of the most appropriate
intervention technique. Some advantages of this technique include materials sustainability,
overlay-to-substrate compatibility, alkaline resistance, reversibility, good resistance to
humidity and water vapor permeability.
The first part of the speech presents the main results of the experimental campaign. The
performance of BTRM reinforced tuff masonry panels subjected to in-plane shear loads is
investigated through diagonal compression tests. Two nominal identical as-built panels are
preliminary tested for comparison purposes. The reinforcement is applied on the whole panel
surface and two layouts are considered: single-side and double-side reinforcement.
Evaluations of the effectiveness of the reinforcement system are discussed and some
comparisons with other literature tests with distinct TRM systems are outlined.
The second part of the speech presents a relatively simple modeling approach for the
analysis and prediction of the in-plane shear behavior of unreinforced and reinforced
masonry panels and intends to define a usable numerical tool. The nonlinear behavior of the
unreinforced and reinforced panels is reproduced by means of a macroscopic smeared crack
approach. The masonry is modeled as an isotropic continuum material characterized by
different nonlinear softening laws in tension and compression. The BTRM composite is
modeled with two layers representing the basalt grid and the matrix. The basalt mesh is
characterized by an elastic-brittle behavior in tension, whereas the matrix behavior is
reproduced by means of nonlinear softening laws in tension and compression. Sensitivity
numerical analyses are preliminary developed on the unreinforced and reinforced panel
models, in order to investigate the influence of each parameter in the nonlinear response.
Then, representative numerical models for the unreinforced and the reinforced panel are
presented. The models aim to capture the main aspects of the observed experimental
nonlinear response, such as stiffness, deformation-strength shear capacity and failure
mechanism. The numerical results are compared with the experimental outcomes and the
feasibility of the models is discussed.
27/03/2015 - ore 10.00 - sala riunioni DISG

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