Strengthening of Masonry Pillars by Textile Reinforced Concrete Wrapping of Different Thickness

Abstract

This paper is focused on strengthening of brick masonry columns by thin layer of textile reinforced concrete (TRC). The sets of masonry columns with dimensions 290 × 290 × 1040 mm were produced. These columns were prepared with modified shape of the cross-section to achieve a polygonal shape. This solution brings significant increase of the structure load capacity and efficiency of the applied strengthening. Used TRC consists of micro-concrete with similar properties as high-performance concrete and reinforcement from E-glass. Used textile reinforcement has basic weight 585 g/m 2 with mesh size 5.5 × 4.5 mm, while the average compressive and flexural strength of the used micro-concrete achieved 93.6 MPa and 15.6 MPa respectively. Used masonry achieved characteristics compressive strength 7.2 MPa, the calculation was performed with respect to properties of bricks with dimensions 140 × 65 × 290 mm and used lime-cement mortar. The reinforced fabric was applied in one and three layers and the effect of number of strengthening layers was investigated. Axial loading arrangement was used for the determination of maximal achieved strenght and the efficiency of additionaly applied strengthening layer. It was confirmed that one layer of strenghtening increased the load capacity by nearly 100 %, three layers by over 200 %, respectively. Application of TRC performs efficient procedure for the improvement of load capacity of masonry structures, which could be applied in case of renovation of historical structures.