Dorothea Saenger and Michael Raupach
Dorothea Saenger, Masonry Research Engineer, Dipl.-Ing., RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Building Materials Research, 52062 Aachen, Germany, saenger@ibac.rwth-aachen.de
Michael Raupach, Professor and Head of Institute, Dr.-Ing., RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Building Materials Research, 52062 Aachen, Germany, raupach@ibac.rwth-aachen.de
ABSTRACT
An innovative way to increase the load-bearing capacity of masonry building elements subjected to lateral loading caused by wind or earth pressure is to apply textile reinforcement embedded in mortar on the masonry surface. In order to better understand the performance of various types of textile reinforcement (alkali-resistant glass/carbon fiber) and mortar (cement render) as well as to evaluate their suitability for structural strengthening of masonry, an extensive experimental study is currently being carried out. The main objectives of this study are to find suitable reinforcing materials for the use on masonry as well as to describe the load-bearing and deformation behavior of textile reinforced masonry building elements and hence to derive a design model. This study includes tests on small scale composite specimens subjected to tensile, shear or bending loading, from which the required material and bond parameters for developing a design model can be defined. From large scale tests on masonry walls subjected to lateral loading, the effectiveness of strengthening masonry with textiles has been assessed. This paper describes the tests performed and presents the results and conclusions obtained so far.
