Cyclic Tests on Masonry Vaults Strengthened Through Composite Reinforced Mortar: The Role of the Connection with the Abutments

Experimental cyclic tests on full-scale, isolated vaults, carrying their self-weight and subjected to a uniformly distributed transversal load were performed so to investigate on the effectiveness of the Composite Reinforced Mortar strengthening technique. It is based on the application, at the vault extrados or intrados, of a 30 mm thick mortar coating with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer meshes embedded. In the tests, the reinforced layer was connected to the masonry abutments through steel bars and GFRP elements. The actual performances of these connections in preventing slides and uplifts at the spring sections, which reduce the strengthening effectiveness, are analyzed in the paper. The comparisons of the results with previous experimental tests (without connection at the abutments) and numerical simulations, evidence a good effectiveness of the strengthening intervention, with significant benefits in both resistance and displacement capacities, and permit to assess the actual effectiveness of the tested connection strategy.