PSI - Issue 64

Salvatore Benfratello et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 1935–1942 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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3. Numerical analysis of masonry panel As structural application of geopolymers reinforced with sisal fibers, the masonry panel sketched in Fig. 3 has been investigated. The geometrical characteristics of the panel are reported in Table 1 together with the mechanical ones corresponding to the mean values available in Table C8.5.1 of NTC (2018) for two different masonry (tuff masonry with regular ashlars, ashlar masonry with regular squared blocks). Aim of the analysis is to verify the effects of plaster realized by the geopolymers reinforced with sisal fibers in the overall mechanical behaviour of the panel. To this aim the panel has been subjected to a distributed vertical load (reported in Table 1 and obtained assuming that the panel under examination is part of a two-floor masonry buildings) and to a horizontal load whose value ranges from zero to the collapse one. The analysis has been conducted by ABAQUS FEM environment assuming for a CDP material model and C3D8R 3D elements. The boundary conditions are assumed as fully restrained one at the bottom of the panel and as only x-displacement at the top of the panel (Fig. 4a). The load has been applied as the resultant of a pressure of suitable value applied on a steel plate (Fig. 4b). Three different analyses have been performed: masonry panel, masonry panel with reinforced plaster (incrementing the mechanical parameters of the masonry as in Table C8.5.2 of NTC (2018)), masonry panel with sisal reinforced geopolymers plaster (0.03 m thickness). The analysis of the masonry with sisal reinforced geopolymer plaster was performed assuming a perfect kinematical compatibility between masonry and plaster. The results, in terms of −Δ curves, are reported in Fig. 5. An examination of these figures confirms that the geopolymer plaster reinforced with sisal fibers leads to an increment of the overall structural response of the masonry wall. Further, the results show that the effect due to sisal reinforced geopolymer plaster is greater than that obtained by adopting the reinforced plaster (according to the NTC (2018) suggestions). In addition, it is worth noting that the obtained strength increment depends on the mechanical characteristics of the masonry: the more the stiffness of the masonry is close to that of the reinforced geopolymer plaster the less the increment.

Fig. 3. Masonry panel under examination.