Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Meghdad Samaei ¹
• Ebrahim Fekri ²
• Reihaneh Sadat HajmirSadeghi ³
• Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Ghafoori ⁴

¹ Assistant Professor Depatment of Civil Engineering, Mahallat Institute of Higher Education, Mahallat, Iran

² Master's degree Depatment of Civil Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Shahriar Branch, Shahriar, Iran

³ Assistant Professor Department of architecture, Shahr.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahriar, Iran

⁴ Assistant Professor Depatment of Civil Engineering, Mahallat Institute of Higher Education, Mahallat, Iran.

Abstract

Unreinforced masonry walls are widely used in rural buildings across Iran and are highly vulnerable to seismic actions due to poor material quality and lack of confinement. Strengthening these walls using glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) has recently gained attention as a practical and cost-effective retrofit technique. This study investigates the in-plane seismic behavior of clay brick and concrete block masonry walls, both unstrengthened and strengthened with GFRP, through nonlinear finite-element modeling in ABAQUS. Masonry behavior was simulated using the Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model, and four numerical models were analyzed under nonlinear static and displacement-controlled cyclic loading. The numerical framework was validated against experimental results reported by Chen and Liu (2015).

The results indicate that GFRP strengthening primarily enhances lateral load capacity and energy dissipation, while its influence on the initial stiffness is comparatively limited. Strengthened walls exhibited delayed diagonal cracking, more stable post-peak response, and reduced displacement amplitudes in cyclic loading. Although concrete block walls demonstrated slightly higher stiffness than clay brick walls, the relative efficiency of GFRP strengthening was similar in both materials. Overall, the findings indicate that GFRP is an effective and feasible method for enhancing the seismic performance of rural masonry construction.

The results show that GFRP significantly improves lateral load capacity, initial stiffness, crack control, and energy dissipation for both masonry types. Strengthened walls exhibited delayed diagonal cracking, more stable post-peak response, and reduced displacement amplitudes in cyclic loading. Although concrete block walls demonstrated slightly higher stiffness than clay brick walls, the relative efficiency of GFRP strengthening was similar in both materials. Overall, the findings indicate that GFRP is an effective and feasible method for enhancing the seismic performance of rural masonry construction.

Keywords

• GFRP strengthening
• Masonry walls
• Finite element modeling
• In-plane seismic behavior
• Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP)

Main Subjects

• structure