Masonry Walls Strengthened with Innovative Composites

A large part of tuff buildings in the Mediterranean area is of historical and artistic relevance. Such buildings are placed in seismic areas and, due to their age, have been subjected to environmental deterioration. For this reason, in the last decades, the interest in strengthening of historical tuff masonry structures is significantly grown especially to techniques that allow properties like as reversibility, compatibility, and sustainability of the intervention to be combined. In the present paper, the results of diagonal compression tests on yellow tuff masonry panels is presented; the specimens were reinforced by using an innovative strengthening system based on the combined use of a pre-cured alkali-resistant basalt or glass FRP grid bonded with a cement based mortar or pre-mixed high ductility hydraulic lime and pozzolan based mortar. Base material properties as well as panels in-plane deformation and strength, including the post peak softening regime in view of seismic applications, are reported in the paper. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the investigated strengthening technique to increase the tuff panels shear strength and validated the use of an innovative mortar specifically formulated to increase the compatibility with tuff material and historical grouting.