Dario Foppoli1, and Alessandro Armanasco1
1) Foppoli Moretta e Associati consulting engineers
v. Damiani, 2 – 23037 Tirano (ITALY)
e-mail: posta@foppolimoretta.it
Keywords: Shear strength, Flat-jack, In situ test.
Abstract. The knowledge of shear characteristics of masonry buildings is fundamental to assess their seismic strength. However the current standardized tests proved not to be suitable for the in situ shear characterization of existing structures, as they are strongly destructive. A new testing method based on the use of flat jacks (FJ-SCT Method) has been developed by the authors: it allows to greatly reducing the impact of the tests on the building. A calibration campaign was performed both in laboratory and in situ to evaluate the operability of the defined procedures and it proved the method to be reliable, efficient and repeatable.
This technique is particularly useful for the evaluation of the improvement of masonry shear characteristics through the application of strengthening techniques. Specific tests were performed on buildings seriously damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake to analyze the efficiency of masonry reinforcements. The shear tests were performed on samples of the original masonry and repeated on consolidated samples: the results were able to point out the effectiveness of the application of these reinforcement techniques and to estimate the improvement of the structural strength of the consolidated masonry.