Peel strength testing of frp applied to clay bricks

The paper presents a preliminary local investigation related to sliding on a mortar joint due to excessive shear force, mechanism observed during testing of masonry arches and barrel vaults reinforced with Externally Bonded Fibre Reinforced Polymers (EB FRP) at their extrados. This activity was aimed at evaluating a possible contribution of the FRP reinforcement to joint resistance. Fourteen V-shape Peel Tests (VPT) have been performed, which consist in peeling off a central FRP strip from two clay solid bricks aligned along their longitudinal axis, so that the reinforcement assumes a typical "V" shape during detachment. Tests were designed to reproduce and isolate the reinforcement mixed-mode debonding behaviour related to the above mentioned failure mechanism, and their execution allowed assessing experimental setup and procedures.