Fiberglass Grids as Sustainable Reinforcement of Historic Masonry

Righetti, Luca, Edmondson, Vikki, Corradi, Marco and Borri, Antonio (2016) Fiberglass Grids as Sustainable Reinforcement of Historic Masonry. Materials, 9 (7). p. 603. ISSN 1966-1944

	Text (Article) materials-139665 R2.docx - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (6MB)
Preview	Text (Full text) materials-09-00603.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (8MB) | Preview

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced composite (FRP) materials have gained an increasing success, mostly for strengthening, retrofitting and repair of existing historic masonry structures and may cause a significant enhancement of the mechanical properties of the reinforced members. This article summarizes the results of previous experimental activities aimed at investigating the effectiveness of GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers) grids embedded into an inorganic mortar to reinforce historic masonry. The paper also presents innovative results on the relationship between the durability and the governing material properties of GFRP grids. Measurements of the tensile strength were made using specimens cut off from GFRP grids before and after ageing in aqueous solution. The tensile strength of a commercially available GFRP grid has been tested after up to 450 days of storage in deionized water and NaCl solution. A degradation in tensile strength and Young’s modulus up to 30.2% and 13.2% was recorded, respectively. This degradation indicated that extended storage in a wet environment may cause a decrease in the mechanical properties.

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads