Fabric-Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) composites: mechanical behavior and application to masonry walls

In last decades, composite materials for construction and retrofitting of engineering structures have received a growing interest, which has motivated large research programs and widespread application in engineering practice. The worldwide consensus on the use of fiber-reinforced composite systems in construction industry is mainly inspired by high tensile strength-to-weight ratio, relative ease of installation, and high resistance to corrosion. Among several classes of composite materials, Fiber- Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) have captured most of attention by civil engineers and are used in both construction (e.g., in the form of pultruded profiles, sandwich panels, or reinforcing bars) and structural retrofitting (e.g., in the form of laminates or nearsurface mounted bars). This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive discussion on mechanical behavior of FRCM systems and FRCM-strengthened masonry walls, including important issues related to experimental characterization, capacity modeling, and nonlinear simulation. Such a discussion is deemed strongly important, also because of recent codification activities on FRCM qualification and design for retrofit applications. In the United States of America, the American Concrete Institute (ACI) issued the first guidelines on design and construction of FRCM systems for retrofit of concrete and masonry structures [40]. In response to a widespread application of this strengthening technology after the 2009 L’Aquila, Italy, earthquake, the Italian Superior Council of Public Works launched a similar codification activity on identification, qualification, and quality control of FRCM composites for structural retrofitting of existing constructions.