Rehabilitation of masonry arches with compatible advanced composite material

Stone masonry arches are structures of great functional and architectural importance as they may be found in a large number of constructions that are mainly historic buildings. Although relatively solid structures, time has taught us that environmental conditions, as well as their load history, use and possible accidents can lead to their collapse, all of which entails a risk of losing a large amount of our architectural and cultural heritage. In this research work a compatible strengthening system for the rehabilitation of stone arches was investigated. The strengthening material was constituted of basalt textile embedded in an inorganic matrix known as Basalt Textile-Reinforced Mortar (BTRM) and provides an alternative to the usual reinforcement methods. The research work was based on an integral analysis of this reinforcement solution and its application to stone masonry. The first stage involved physical-chemical and mechanical tests to characterise the materials that constitute the masonry and the strengthening system. In the second stage, six arches were tested by means of displacement control up to the point of collapse. These arches were built according to different criteria: (1) dry or with mortar joints and (2) non-strengthened or strengthened on the extrados. The experimental results obtained in this research work demonstrated good physical-chemical compatibility between the BTRM reinforcement system and the corresponding stone masonry substrate and validated its mechanical effectiveness for the reinforcement of arched structures in terms of load-bearing capacity and ductility.