Experimental and numerical investigation of the out-of-plane behavior and strengthening of a historic stone masonry wall replica using embedded steel cords
BULLETIN OF EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1007/s10518-026-02441-9
- Journal Name: BULLETIN OF EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, Geobase, INSPEC
- Keywords: Historic stone masonry, Strengthening method, Embedded steel cords, Quasi-static out-of-plane testing, Ambient vibration test, Finite element analysis
- Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
In historic stone masonry buildings, strong ground motions typically result in out-of-plane failure of the walls before their in-plane strength is reached. This phenomenon is especial-ly pronounced in structures characterized by long unsupported spans perpendicular to their plane, in the absence of a diaphragm effect. In such cases, the strengthening intervention for the historic fa & ccedil;ade should be selected by considering the principles of conservation. The present study investigates the effectiveness of an innovative reinforcing configura-tion that builds upon the steel-cord-based techniques available in the literature, using experimental and numerical methods. The applied strengthening consists of no-tensioned steel cords embedded in the bed joints and vertically in both the head joints and the stone bricks of the masonry wall. A large-scale stone masonry wall specimen was designed and constructed to reflect the results of on-site material and dynamic tests performed on a reference historic masonry structure. A series of dynamic and quasi-static cyclic tests was conducted on both the unreinforced and reinforced conditions of the specimen. The proposed method was found to restore the out-of-plane strength without significantly in-creasing the stiffness of the damaged specimen. Furthermore, it was observed to improve the out-of-plane deformation capacity and overall structural integrity. The finite element models were calibrated based on the test data and exhibited a noteworthy agreement with the experimental results, particularly in terms of load-drift response and damage observa-tions. Some model parameters were also proposed.