Experimental and numerical FE analyses of curved masonry prisms and arches reinforced with FRP materials

An experimental and numerical study is presented herein, focusing on curved ma-sonry prisms and reinforced masonry arches with glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP). Both convex and concave configurations with a diverse curvature are considered for masonry prisms specimens. The experimental data are interpreted in the light of fully three-dimensional finite element simulations. Under the simplifying assumption of perfect adhesion, such advanced model allows to reconstruct local processes inside the masonry prisms, such as the damage distribution and the interface tractions. The effect of the geometrical curvature on the delamination response of the masonry prisms is comparatively assessed by means of step-by-step numerical predictions together with a direct lower bound limit analysis approach. To complement the experimental campaign, original limit analysis numerical re-sults are presented dealing with some reinforced masonry arches tested at the University of Minho-UMinho, PT. Twelve in-scale circular masonry arches were considered, reinforced in various ways at the intrados or at the extrados. GFRP reinforcements were applied either on undamaged or on previously damaged elements, in order to assess the role of external rein-forcements even in repairing interventions. The experimental results were critically discussed at the light of limit analysis predictions, based on a 3D FE heterogeneous upper bound ap-proach. The numerical results were able to reproduce failure mechanisms of reinforced ma-sonry arches while their peak loads were obtained within an acceptable margin. Due to the scatter of experimental test not all deformation was capture within the reinforced masonry arches numerical models.