A new method for out‐of‐plane reinforcement of masonry walls using high strength steel strand

The paper analyses the problem of assessing the seismic capacity of walls subjected to seismic loading, with particular emphasis to out‐of‐plane loads, before and after reinforcement. A new retrofitting method, consisting in the use of high strength steel strands embedded in the mortar bed joints was studied. The proposed method allows to preserve the fair-faced aspect of the masonry, while improving the out-of-plane capacity of the building’s wall panels perpendicular to the direction of the seismic action (face-loaded walls). An experimental investigation using full-scale masonry specimens was carried out in an attempt to assess the walls’ structural response when these are subject to out-of-plane loads. Test results demonstrated that it is possible to increase the out-of-plane capacity of the walls with the proposed method. However, it is shown that the out-of-plane capacity of face-loaded walls is sensitive to several parameters, which are usually affected by strong uncertainty when assessing an existing building, namely the boundary conditions, the ten-sile strength of the mortar and the wall-to-wall connections.