Masonry
is one of the oldest construction materials that is in use around the world for
reasons due to its accessibility,
functionality and cost. Masonry buildings are
the major building stock around the world, fail in earthquakes mainly because
of their low tensile and shear resistance. These masonry structures are
retrofitted with FRP composites is found to increase its seismic performance.
Experimental studies on masonry wallettes and shear triplet
specimens with and
without retrofitting using GFRP composites were conducted under monotonic
loading. The increase in deformation limit and ultimate load resistance of the
retrofitted wallettes and triplets were compared to that of control specimens.
Finite element (FE) models were created, and the results were verified with
experimental data. Macromodeling was adopted for the analysis of masonry
wallettes. Shear triplets were analyzed by micromodeling. Parametric studies
were conducted to study the changes in the deformation limit and ultimate load
resistance for varying thickness of GFRP composites and fiber orientations. It
is concluded that GFRP composites retrofitting increases the strength and
stiffness of wallettes and strength and ductility of shear triplets.