Retrofitting RC infills by a glass fiber mesh reinforced overlay and steel dowels: experimental and numerical study

Many existing Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings infilled with masonry panels are vulnerable to seismic actions due to lack of proper seismic detailing. For buildings located in low-moderate seismicity regions, a possible retrofitting option could be a reinforced mortar coating applied on the building facades in order to significantly increase its seismic resistance. The present paper studies thin glass fiber mesh reinforced mortar overlays for strengthening RC weak frames infilled with hollow brick masonry. Attention is devoted to the steel dowel connection between the masonry panel and the RC frame to reduce shear sliding. An experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of this enhanced technique is presented and compared against previous results in which shear sliding significantly limited the structural response. In addition, a finite element model has been developed and calibrated to properly simulate the response of the test specimens.