Strengthening of historic masonry structures with composite materials

Existing un-reinforced masonry buildings made of vaults, columns and brick and multi-leaf stone masonry walls, many of which have historical and cultural importance, constitute a significant portion of construction heritage in Europe and rest of the world. Recent earthquakes in southern Europe have shown the vulnerability of un-reinforced masonry constructions due to masonry almost total lack of tensile resistance. Composite materials offer promising retrofitting possibilities for masonry buildings and present several well-known advantages over existing conventional techniques. The aim of this work is to analyze the effectiveness of seismic-upgrading methods both on un-damaged (preventive reinforcement) and damaged (repair) masonry building. After a brief description of mechanical and physical properties of composite materials, three different applications have been addressed: in-plane reinforcement of masonry walls, extrados and intrados reinforcement of masonry vaults/arches and masonry column confinement with composite materials.