In-Plane Seismic Strengthening of Brick Masonry Wall Using Wire Rope and Neoprene

AbstractThis paper reports a comprehensive study on the performance of the in-plane behavior of masonry walls. The use of wire rope and neoprene as a method for reinforcing existing masonry walls is proposed in this paper. The performances of the five walls with and without reinforcement were evaluated using experimental tests and numerical models. The first specimen was an unreinforced masonry wall (witness wall), which was tested under simultaneous cyclic and vertical loading. This wall was modeled using a simplified micro-modeling approach in the standard finite element software, Abaqus. A finite element (FE) study verified the experimental results to predict the in-plane behavior of masonry walls. Furthermore, to investigate the in-plane behavior of nonload-bearing walls in masonry structures, another sample with dimensions and a lateral loading protocol similar to the first sample was modeled by removing the vertical load. After a comprehensive understanding of the failure modes and damage mechanisms, the unreinforced load-bearing wall was strengthened using steel cables and neoprene in a cross-diagonal reinforcement pattern, whereas the unreinforced nonload-bearing wall was strengthened using steel cables and neoprene in a vertical pattern. The details of the modeling and wall construction, test setup, testing procedure, and results are described in detail in this study. The results indicated that the energy absorption capacity of the unreinforced walls was extremely low, and the effects of narrowing and asymmetry in the hysteresis curve were observed. The proposed retrofitting system increased the lateral load capacity, initial stiffness, deformation capacity (reducing the residual deformation), and energy dissipation capacity and created a self-centering response in the wall.