Abstract:
This article presents the in-situ out-of-plane flexural testing of two (02) full scale unreinforced masonry (URM) walls seismically retrofitted using twisted steel inserts. The URM walls were tested on site at a historic villa that was built in 1880 and has a prime heritage value. The test walls were seismically retrofitted by inserting twisted stainless steel bars in cut surface grooves. The structural performance of these seismically retrofitted URM walls was investigated and was compared to their counter part from the non-retrofitted test walls. The elevation in out-of-plane flexural strength of the retrofitted URM walls ranged from 140% to 570%. The results for the retrofitted walls were plotted graphically as demand capacity phase diagram in spectral acceleration and spectral displacement (ADRS) format to depict the damage level for maximum credible earthquake.
