An Innovative Structural and Energy Retrofitting System for Masonry Walls Using Textile Reinforced Mortars Combined with Thermal Insulation

The application of a new system, which combines textile reinforced mortars (TRM) and thermal insulating materials as a means of both structural (including seismic) and energy retrofitting of masonry walls is experimentally investigated in this study. Medium scale tests were carried out on masonry walls subjected to out-of-plane bending. Several parameters were investigated, including the use of fire-resistant versus polymer-based insulating material, one sided versus two-sided insulation and/or TRM jacketing, the position of the TRM and the displacement amplitude of the loading cycles. From the results obtained in this study the authors believe that TRM jacketing may be combined effectively with thermal insulation, which can be fire-resistant too.