Seismic retrofitting of a three-storey masonryinfilled RC frame with textile-reinforced mortar (TRM)

The effectiveness of using textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) as a means of improving the mechanical behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) or masonry elements has been experimentally verified in the recent past. In this study TRM was employed for the first time in the case of substandard masonry-infilled RC frames representing structural detailing of the 60s-era in Southern Europe. For this purpose cyclic tests on two nearly full-scale three-storey RC frames were conducted. The structure was subjected to a linear pattern of cyclically alternating forces through servohydraulic actuators. The performance of the retrofitted specimen was compared to the performance of the unretrofitted companion specimen. The test results demonstrate that the proposed strengthening technique considerably enhances the lateral strength, the lateral stiffness and the deformation capacity of the frame. An analytical model to simulate the response of TRM retrofitted masonry-infilled RC frames is also provided.