Strengthening of masonry infill wall panels in reinforced concrete structures using dual strengthening strategy of ferrocement and ECC overlays

The strengthening of masonry infill wall panels (MIWPs) in reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures is of prime importance due to their failure in the in-plane and out-of-plane direction, as evidenced by past earthquakes. This research study applies an innovative approach of dual-strengthening materials to individual MIWPs in the RC frame structures to improve their seismic performance. Ferrocement overlay (FCO) and engineered cementitious composites (ECC) materials are applied to different MIWPs in a half-scaled two-story, two-by-two-bay reinforced concrete frame structure with different arrangements of infill walls. The strengthened masonry infill wall panels (SMIWPs) in the RC frame structure were tested using the quasi-static testing protocol. The testing results are compared with conventional masonry infill wall panels (CMIWPs) walls in RC frame structure in terms of damage pattern and backbone curve to evaluate the effect of the strengthening strategies applied to the MIWPs. The lateral Strength, stiffness, and ultimate ductility were enhanced by 166%, 40%, and 60%, respectively. The strengthening strategy effectively improved the damage propagations, lateral Strength, stiffness, and ductility.