Seismic Strengthening of Stone Masonry Walls with Polymer Coating

The efficiency of strengthening traditional three-leaf stone masonry walls with different types of polymer coating has been investigated. Glass fibre grid or fabric and single component fibre reinforced mortar or epoxy resin were used as coating materials, with coating anchored or not anchored to the masonry at the corners of the walls. Two walls in the original state have been tested as control specimens. All walls failed in shear. Significant increase in lateral resistance with regard to control walls has been observed in all cases, amounting to 4.0-times the resistance of the control walls. As the test results indicated, the coating of the walls improved also the displacement and energy dissipation capacity, but increased the rigidity of the original walls. The degree of improvement did not depend on the type of coating but on the technology of application.