This paper presents a study on the potentiality of seismic retrofitting solutions Canvas Mesh Athletic Running Shoes with pultruded Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) profiles.This material can be used in connected frames providing lightweight, corrosion-free and reversible retrofitting of masonry buildings with the moderate requirements of surface preservation.In a hypothetical case study, an experimental program was designed; monotonic shear tests on a half-size physical model of the sample wall were performed to assess the structural performance before and after retrofitting with a basic frame of pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) C-shaped profiles, connected to the masonry by steel threaded bar connections.
During the tests, the drift, the diagonal displacements in the masonry and the micro-strain in the profiles were measured.The retrofitted system has proven very effective in delaying crack appearance, increasing the maximum load (+85% to +93%) and ultimate displacement (up to +303%).The failure mode switches from rocking to a combination of diagonal cracking and bed joint sliding.
The gauge recordings show a very limited mechanical exploitation of the GFRP material, despite the noticeable effectiveness of the retrofit.The application seems thus promising and worth a deeper research focus.Finally, a finite element modelling approach has been developed and validated, and it here will be useful to envisage the effects of the proposed solution in future research.