CONFINEMENT OF MASONRY WITH FRCM COMPOSITES: STRENGTH PREDICTIVE MODELS

Fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composites have emerged as an appealing alternative to fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) for the external confinement of masonry members; nevertheless, their use in practice is limited due to the lack of reliable formulas to estimate the compressive strength and ultimate strain of confined members. By following a recently published study, new formulas for the prediction of the compressive strength of the FRCM confined masonry are proposed here, which were obtained by considering an updated experimental database compiled from the literature. These formulas were developed by applying error minimization techniques to the collected experimental results; test data were treated in different ways, such as: (a) separating the members made of natural stones from those built with artificial blocks, and (b) treating separately the fiber types (basalt, carbon, glass, PBO and steel) of the FRCM system, or (c) considering the experimental data all together. Finally, to evaluate the reliability of the developed relationships, the strength predictions provided by the new proposals were compared with those obtained using the expressions reported in some international guidelines.