Low-impact consolidation techniques for preserving the “exposed face” of historic masonry walls

How to make stone masonry buildings safe without altering their historical character and how to evaluate the effectiveness of the currently available techniques are some of the most debated issues in post-earthquake reconstruction, to which the scientific community is called to contribute.

With this objective in mind, this article presents the results of shake table tests on a masonry wall reinforced with the Reticola Plus System by Fibre Net. The wall is composed of stainless steel wires embedded in the mortar joints on the visible side and equipped with transverse connectors to the insulated composite reinforced mortar (CRM) plaster applied on the inner surface.

Seismic simulations were carried out on full-scale multi-wythe stone walls constructed with stones recovered from the rubble of a severely affected village in Central Italy. The walls were subjected to the recorded earthquakes in Norcia, Castel Sant’Angelo sul Nera, and Amatrice, with increasing intensities, until collapse.

To verify the effectiveness of the reinforcement system, the tests were repeated on two prototypes, the first being unreinforced and the second consolidated with the Reticola Plus system.

The reinforcement solution proved effective in mitigating the seismic vulnerability of historical buildings, by containing wall damage, preventing wythe separation, and significantly reducing masonry disintegration phenomena.