Preliminary studies of homogenization of NFRCM reinforcement and re- inforced masonry

Resumo

Masonry is a heterogeneous material formed by the manual and individual arrangement of units con-nected by joints, being one of the first construction materials, and that can have a partition or structural function.

Despite apparently being a simple material, masonry is a composite material with a complex characterization. For various reasons, masonry often needs some type of reinforcement. Currently, one of the most used materials as reinforcement are the composites known as FRP (fiber reinforced polymer), which consist of fibers (usually car-bon, glass, or aramid) embedded in a polymer matrix (epoxy resin, for example). This type of reinforcement is already well characterized in the literature. However, FRPs have some disadvantages, such as high cost, use of synthetic materials, and in the case of masonry, adhesion problems between the reinforcement and the substrate.
Recently, fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) with natural fibers (NFRCM) have been studied as an alternative to FRPs. There are already works that show the potential of using NFRCM as structural reinforcement, where Brazil appears in a prominent position as one of the largest producers of natural fibers in the world, as is the case of sisal and pineapple leaf fiber. For the numerical characterization of these and other composite materials, the Finite Element Method (FEM) is commonly used. In the present work, an alternative numerical technique is used: Mechanics of Structure Genome (MSG), which has been successfully employed in the homogenization of unreinforced and FRP-reinforced masonry. Thus, this work deals with a preliminary numerical study for the characterization of NFRCMs and masonry reinforced with this type of reinforcement.