On the Numerical and Experimental Strengthening Assessment of Tufa Masonry with FRP

In this article, a constitutive relation of bounded tensile strength function of the strain state of the material is proposed for tufa masonry structures with and without fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. The fiber-reinforcement is modeled as a linear elastic material with no-compression strength. Tests have been performed to verify the proposed model and the efficacy of this structural FRP reinforcement technique for masonry. Tests have utilized brick specimens, little beam specimens, and masonry panels. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of the strengthening technique and the capacity of the constitutive equation to model the behavior of more complex fiber-reinforced masonry structures.