Seismic retrofitting of masonry walls using regular steel grids and steel web plates

This study presents a numerical investigation on a retrofitting system for nonductile masonry walls, based on the use of regular steel grids and thin steel web plates bonded to the wall surface with epoxy resin. The research is structured in multiple phases. First, a linear buckling analysis is performed on different steel grid geometries to assess their elastic response. Based on these results, nonlinear static analyses are conducted on selected configurations, both with and without thin ductile steel web plates, to evaluate their global behavior. The most effective systems are then adopted as a strengthening solution for masonry walls to assess numerically their seismic performance. A parametric study is finally carried out to examine the influence of web plate thickness on the maximum shear capacity. The results confirm that the addition of thin ductile steel web plates significantly improves the lateral strength of the walls while allowing for a reduction in steel usage.