PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF BASALT FRCM FOR THE CONFINEMENT OF CLAY BRICK MASONRY CYLINDERS

Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) composites have been proved to be a suitable strengthening material for masonry structures in the last years. Moreover, basalt fibres are increasingly used as reinforcement of composites as a more sustainable alternative to glass fibres. The goal of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of basalt FRCM to confine masonry circular columns. A total of eighteen clay brick masonry cylinders were tested in compression. The specimens were cored from two different masonry assemblies and wrapped with one or two layers of BFRCM composite. The stress-strain curves and the gains of strength and strain capacity of confined cylinders compared to the control specimens are reported together with a description of the failure modes.