ACI STRUCTURAL JOURNAL
Title No. 120-S38
Influence of Textile Reinforcement on Masonry Walls
Subjected to In-Plane Loads
by Nadia Tarifa, Zakaria Ilyes Djamaï, Frédéric Duprat, and Carole Soula
Masonry walls are particularly vulnerable to large shear forces
during earthquakes because of their low tensile strength and the
heterogeneity of their material. In this paper, experimental results
are presented for four masonry walls reinforced with textile-reinforced
mortars (TRMs) and one unreinforced wall (URW) tested under
quasi-static in-plane loading. These full-scale masonry walls were
tested in the LMDC laboratory at the National Institute of Applied
Sciences (INSA) Toulouse. Clay bricks and lime mortar were used
in a traditional construction technique to build the walls. The four
specimens were tested and damaged until failure. One of them was
strengthened along its diagonals and the other three over their
entire surfaces. Displacements and crack patterns were monitored
using a network of sensors and a digital image correlation system.
A comparison of the experimental results determined whether TRM
could efficiently reinforce masonry walls and increase their load-
bearing capacity.
An increase in peak load and cumulative energy, respectively,
was hence observed during the tests (140 kN and 3176 J for an
unreinforced wall, and 343 kN and 13,303 J for one of the rein-
forced walls). These results provide valuable information about
masonry wall strengthening for architects, structural engineers,
and the scientific community.
Keywords: masonry; reinforcement; shear loads; textile-reinforced mortar
(TRM).
INTRODUCTION
In addition to its rich artistic, historical, and scientific heri-
tage, monumental masonry is of interest because it is among
the oldest building materials available. Masonry is used
throughout the world for its low cost, rapidity of construc-
tion, and insulation value.
A large percentage of the current built stock worldwide
consists of structures made of unreinforced masonry (URM).
This type of construction remains used despite competition
from other materials such as concrete and steel.
However, traditional masonry buildings are prone to
degradation and weakness due to the loads originating in the
bracing system whenever it is composed of masonry walls.
Such structures have a significant capacity to resist gravity
loads, but are not designed to withstand horizontal loads.1,2
A critical element in the failure of walls during catastrophic
earthquakes is the lack of shear capacity, which leads to
out-of-plane failure as well as in-plane failure. Preserving
heritage buildings as well as dwellings from such a type of
ruin remains a salient concern.
An increasingly common method for upgrading masonry
structures consists in using externally bonded composite
materials. Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) became
ACI Structural Journal/March 2023
TECHNICAL PAPER
popular3-5 due to their light weight and high mechanical
performance (although also implying a high cost). However,
FRPs are often not fully exploited despite their potential
when applied to low tensile and shear strength materials,
such as masonry. In addition to providing benefits, FRP mate-
rials suffer from the drawbacks of organic binders (epoxy
resins): sensitivity to high temperatures (the maximum
service temperature must be lower than the glass transition
temperature of the resin), inconvenient application under wet
conditions (the resin must be applied to dry surfaces), envi-
ronmental impact of the solid form (non-removability, for
instance) and potential health risks to workers. Additionally,
the lack of vapor permeability, which may cause condensa-
tion concerns in masonry, is likely another limitation.6
The fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) or
textile-reinforced cementitious matrix (TRM or TRC)
have overcome most of the limitations of FRPs (they are
compatible with masonry substrates, easy to apply, resistant
to fire, and fairly sustainable). These composite materials,
which combine a fine-grained matrix with fabric reinforce-
ment, have been developed recently,7-9 and previous studies
have proven their effectiveness in strengthening masonry
walls made of hollow masonry blocks that are subjected
to in-plane movements. The TRM strengthening method
helps increase the mechanical strength and ductility of the
masonry structure.7-10
TRM can be realized through different techniques which
allow the alignment of the fibers to be controlled and achieve
TRM with high fiber contents (up to 25% in volume11). The
result is stable crack development and strain hardening with
significant post-cracking stiffness and high tensile strength
of the composite. Furthermore, the small diameter of the
fibers results in a very fine crack pattern.12
As a result, this technique has gained considerable
popularity as a retrofitting solution for masonry struc-
tures. Consequently, many structures have been effectively
strengthened with TRMs. However, most of this research
has been conducted on modern or traditional masonry, and
very few articles deal with the reinforcement of historical
masonry. The few papers published on such constructions
focus on diagonal compression tests to prove the efficiency
of this technique. Castori et al.13 tested 12 full-size wall
ACI Structural Journal, V. 120, No. 2, March 2023.
MS No. S-2022-059.R6, doi: 10.14359/51737143, received July 11, 2022, and
reviewed under Institute publication policies. Copyright © 2023, American Concrete
Institute. All rights reserved, including the making of copies unless permission is
obtained from the copyright proprietors. Pertinent discussion including author’s
closure, if any, will be published ten months from this journal’s date if the discussion
is received within four months of the paper’s print publication.
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