Experimental bond behavior of FRP sheets glued on brick masonry

This paper deals with the experimental characterization of the mechanical tensile and shear bond behavior of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets externally glued on masonry prisms, in terms of load capacity and stress distribution along the bonded length. The brick masonry adopted tries to replicate ancient brick masonry, by using handmade low strength solids bricks and low strength lime based mortar. Key parameters relative to the FRP-masonry interface response, particularly bonded length, FRP materials, anchor scheme adopted and shape of masonry substrate were studied. Finally, an analytical bond stress-slip formulation was developed, allowing deducing local bond stress-slip curves directly from the experiments.The financial support provided by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation through Project No. POCTI/ECM/38071/2001 is acknowledged. FRP composites and premixed mortar used in the laboratory tests were gently offered by BETTOR MBT and MAPEI, respectively, to whom the writers are grateful. The second writer would like to express his gratitude to CONACYT for the scholarship granted