Performance evaluation of Natural Fiber Textile Reinforced Mortar (NFTRM) in masonry structural upgrading

Masonry buildings constructed in past centuries were generally built without seismic design provisions. Commonly, Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) or Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) systems are used for masonry retrofitting/upgrading. TRM systems are generally considered more suitable for masonry upgrading applications. In this work, an experimental campaign has been developed to retrofit/upgrade masonry walls with a Natural Fiber (NF) TRM system configured with two jute fiber nets (mesh types: 2.5 cm×2.5 cm and 2.5 cm×1.25 cm), four jute fiber made diatons and/or jute fiber (1% fiber (30 mm) with respective to the mortar mass) composite Structural Mortar (SM). This paper reports the improved strength of masonry walls upgraded with the proposed NFTRM system. Constant vertical load has been applied on these upgraded walls, and the shear strength capacity and ultimate strength of these walls have been evaluated through in-plane cyclic shear tests. It has been found that the ultimate strength of the NFTRM system is found to be very close to each other and ranging between 2.7 (MPa) to 3.1 (MPa). The overall load-carrying capacity of the strengthened masonry walls increased by more than 455%. This study shows that jute-based NFTRM systems improve masonry performance while advancing sustainable, circular construction practices aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.