Textile Reinforced Mortar/masonry joints under reverse cyclic in-plane shear

This study investigates for the first time the effect of reverse cyclic loading on the shear bond capacity of Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM)/masonry joints. The single-lap/single-prism set-up was adopted for monotonic tests, whereas a modified version thereof was developed for reverse cyclic tests making use of a single piston. Specimens comprised wallettes reinforced with glass fiber TRM overlays of various bond lengths (BL = 250-50 mm, step = 50 mm). Reverse cyclic loading: (i) bore no effect on the joints' failure modes; (ii) resulted in a reduction of the shear bond strength by <20%.

Automated summary

This study found that reverse cyclic loading did not affect the failure modes of TRM/masonry joints, but led to a reduction in shear bond strength by less than 20%.