Numerical Study of a Full Scale Hollow Brick Masonry Building Strengthened with Steel Fiber Reinforced Mortar Coating

The typical low tensile resistance of Unreinforced Masonry (URM) generally makes existing building critical to seismic actions. The development of innovative strengthening and repairing techniques is therefore a crucial topic to improve the structural safety of existent constructions. The paper presents the results of non-linear push-over analyses carried out on a full scale URM building to assess the structure response in case Steel Fiber Reinforced Mortar (SFRM) coating is used as a seismic retrofitting technique. In order to calibrate the smeared crack model used for the simulation of the building, some full scale walls tested within the present research program have been preliminary simulated. The numerical study of the building is performed to predict the response of a real full scale specimen that will be tested at the University of Brescia under reverse cyclic loading conditions. In view of this, the global response of the building before and after the application of a single layer of SFRM coating has been studied and discussed. The simulations included also the addition of proper steel connections between the SFRM coating and the concrete foundation of the building.