Strength Enhancement of Brick Masonry Column with Ferrocement

Abstract

Prior to concrete becoming a widely used building material, brick masonry walls and columns were mainly provided in buildings in most parts of the Indo-Pak Sub-Continent. Quite a large number of these old brick masonry buildings have lost strength, which needs to be restored. A research work was carried out to enhance the strength of brick masonry columns through confinement with ferrocement. This configuration acted as a retrofit arrangement in restoring strength of old brick masonry columns. Uniaxial compression tests were performed on three uncoated columns (control specimen), six brick columns coated with unreinforced plaster and fifty one columns coated with layer of ferrocement. Test results revealed that the application of ferrocement coating on bare masonry columns significantly enhances the compressive strength. Ferrocement coated brick columns showed 138 per cent increase in failure load compared to control specimen. The cracking resistance and stable crack growth mechanism is also improved.