Shear behavior of hollow clay brick masonry wallet coated with short jute fiber reinforced mortar

The objective of this study is to present a new method of reinforcing masonry using layers of mortar reinforced with short jute fibers. Mortars were produced with 0%, 2% and 3% jute fibers with cementitious matrices free of calcium hydroxide. The effectiveness of the reinforced mortar was evaluated through diagonal compression tests of hollow ceramic brick masonry prisms. The prisms were coated on both sides. The experimental results demonstrated that the diagonal resistance of the fiber system increased by 28 to 30% and presented greater resistance to elastic deformation during load application, with deformation coefficients 2 and 3 times greater for 2% and 3% of fibers, respectively. Therefore, jute fibers prove to be a sustainable and efficient alternative for masonry reinforcement applications, with maximum applied loads considerably higher than the unreinforced system, in addition to better crack control.