Textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) as retrofitting material of masonry-infilled RC frames

The contribution of masonry infills to the seismic resistance of existing reinforced concrete structures is significant, both before separation of the infill from the surrounding frame occurs and during large cycles of imposed deformations near collapse. Strengthening of this type of structures usually aims at increasing the resistance and deformation capacity of the frame itself, setting aside the contribution of infills as a source of strength reserve. An alternative route at improving the performance of existing building structures, while avoiding the drawbacks of the approach above, is to convert masonry infilling to a more reliable source of resistance by guaranteeing its contribution over the whole spectrum of structural response. This is sought and examined experimentally in the present study, by employing the very promising technique of textile-reinforced mortars (TRM). The application of TRM is examined in this study on nearly full-scale as-built and retrofitted 3-storey masonry infilled frames, subjected to cyclic loading. The results of the tests are presented and discussed along with the presentation of an analytical model accounting for the TRM contribution to the global response. Finally, the results of the numerical analyses, which were carried out after the implementation of the model to the open-source software OpenSees, are being compared to the experimental results.