Mechanical response of solid clay brick masonry reinforced with CFRP strips under eccentric loading

The problem of eccentric loading of CFRP-reinforced solid clay brick masonry is addressed in this paper. Experimental tests have been performed on both unreinforced (URM) and CFRP-reinforced masonry (CFRP-RM) being the loads applied with moderate-to-high eccentricities. The comparison between the mechanical response of URM and CFRP-RM shows a significant increase in the compressive strength of reinforced specimen some 40-50% on the average; in many cases the recorded inelastic strains where significantly higher in CFRP-reinforced prisms. The analysis of the cracking processes inside the masonry prisms gives way to some considerations on the internal collapse mechanisms of URM and CFRP-RM masonry.