Assessment of seismic capacity increase of masonry buildings strengthened through the application of GFRP coating on the walls

The results of a numerical investigation on the seismic performances of masonry buildings strengthened through the application of a glass fibre-reinforced mortar (GFRM) coating are presented. Four different building configurations were modelled (two and three storey, regular and non-regular in plan); solid brick and rubble stone masonry were considered. A simplified modelling method (equivalent frame method) was adopted, with concentration of the non-linear response in shear and bending 'plastic hinges'. Some difficulties needed to be faced for strengthened masonry, so to consider the effect of the reinforcement in available commercial computer codes. The non-linear static analysis provided the capacity curves of the structures. Moreover, by applying the modified capacity spectrum method, it was possible to compare the performances in terms of maximum resisting ground acceleration. The results evidenced for the reinforced buildings increase ranging from 1.8 to 2.6 times that of unreinforced ones, proving the effectiveness of the reinforcement technique.