Creep behavior of brick masonry panels strengthened by the bed joints reinforcement technique using CFRP thin strips

The counteraction of creep damage in massive structures is a topical subject, as many historical constructions, mainly towers or large columns and walls, are in hazardous conditions. The bed joint reinforcement technique revealed its potentiality in preserve those structures from collapse, as it has been widely experimentally investigated for small diameters reinforced steel bars applications and use of compatible embedding materials. The possible introduction of FRP materials, especially for small rectangular section bars, seems to be promising in similar contexts, even if some peculiar aspects it needs a deeper investigation. In the paper, the main results of a series of laboratory pseudo-creep tests carried out on brick masonry panels strengthened with CFRP thin strips, and the comparison with the behavior observed on similar steel strengthened samples are presented.