The Reinforcement Of The Multiple-Leaves Masonry Walls By Cfrp: The Theoretical Approach”

This paper reports the results obtained by a numerical analysis carried out on multileaf stone masonry very often used in ancient masonry walls, characterized by two or more rigid outer leaves, made of calcareous rock blocks and mortar joints, and a very poor inner leaf of mortar and stone aggregate. First the numerical model was calibrated in order to determine the maximum load that this kind of multi leaf masonry can bear in the presence of eccentric loads by taking into account both the buckling phenomena and the mechanical behaviour of the non-tensile strength material. The enhancement of the global behaviour of the multi-leaf stone masonry reinforced by technology based on the use of C-FRP was assessed with respect to both the unreinforced model and the other technique consisting in the inserting some transversal masonry bricks working as a tie. In the presence of reinforcement, the original scheme of a beam supported at the ends, which has been assumed for the wall, is modified. The proposed reinforcement technology consists in inserting some transversal C-FRP bars through the thickness of the wall. The bar anchorage was performed by stripping the bar extremities of a C-FRP sheet. The obtained C-FRP ribbon was glued on the masonry surface with a CFRP layer applied all along the wall length. The proposed technique provides an enhancement of the global resistance more than three times greater than the original model and one and half times greater than the traditional techniques.