Seismic Safety Enhancement of 1:3 Scaled-Down Two-Story Masonry Buildings Models Built with Agro and Textile Waste Fibre-Strengthened Cementitious Composites Subjected to Uni-Directional Shaking Table Test

Most of the non-engineered masonry structures have failed to perform satisfactorily during earthquakes. In this context, the present work explored a new approach to strengthening, i.e. mortar strengthening. The objective of mortar strengthening was to augment the properties (flexural/tensile) of mortar by reinforcing fibres, as the strengthened mortar would enhance the performance of the masonry structure. Two waste fibres, coconut (agro-waste) and nylon (textile-waste), were used as reinforcement. The 1:3 scaled-down two-story models were subjected to uni-directional loading through a uni-axial shake table. The seismic behaviour was highlighted on the basis of failure pattern/strength. It was noticed that seismic safety of fibre-strengthened models increased notably as compared to unstrengthened models. The failure observed in unstrengthened models was sudden and abrupt; however, the fibre-strengthened models displayed ductile failure. The enhancement in the strength (in terms of peak ground acceleration) at the 1st crack and the ultimate failure were found to be upto 264.4% and upto 87.8%, respectively. In addition, a marginal difference was noted in the analytical and experimental values of the natural period of the building models. Moreover, the mortar strengthening technique proved to be sustainable, buildable, and economical and could be used for both new constructions and existing structures.