Shaking table tests of two different reinforcement techniques using polymeric grids on an asymmetric limestone full-scaled structure

Abstract

This paper describes the shaking table tests, and their main results, of an asymmetric limestone masonry building, under different reinforcement conditions. The work was performed in the aim of the project “Enhancing Seismic Resistance and Durability of Natural Masonry Stone” for User Group 3 of the European Consortium of Laboratories for Earthquake and Dynamic Experimental Research (ECOLEADER). The experimental program was performed using the LNEC 3D shaking table. The design of the structure was a common decision of the specialists involved from the University of Bucharest, the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the IRIDEX Construction Group, on the basis of an architectural conception typical of the buildings under study as well as on pre-existing buildings in Romania. The construction was operated and supervised in the LNEC earthquake-testing hall. For the first phase of the tests the specimen was just horizontally reinforced with polymeric grids. For the second phase (with similar input signals) it was also vertically confined with polymeric grids and a fibre-added mortar was used. The construction of a full-scale specimen, its reinforcement, the testing procedure and the main testing results are presented. The geometry and the materials chosen and the construction procedure are detailed as well as the instrumentation and the different input signals adopted. Finally, the main damages observed are shown. In conclusion, a comparison of the results obtained for each phase of the tests is made showing an important improvement reached in the behaviour of the structure that has allowed inputs of clearly higher values for the very final steps.