Experimental Evaluation of The Effect of Implementation Defects on The Pullout Resistance of Steel Rebar in The Shotcrete Layer as A Retrofit Method for Structural Brick Masonry Infill Walls in Steel Structures

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are rather popular around the globe due to low construction costs, even although they can be prone to substantial damage caused by even moderate earthquakes. In many cases, reconstruction is not the best choice because of financial and time restrictions. Shotcrete reinforced with steel mesh (SRS) is a cheap and simple yet effective method of repair/retrofit. This paper presents the results of experimental study with the aim of evaluating the effects of construction imperfections of steel reinforced shotcrete, as a retrofit method for URM walls, on the rebar pull-out resistance. For this purpose, a total of full scale URM speimens with one-sided 50 mm-thick shotcrete layer having a single steel rebar were made and tested. The results show in the case the wall’s finishing is not removed, the steel reabr cover is not sufficient, the plain steel reabrs is used, and , use of rebar without a tread, there is 57.8%, 55.2%, 25% and 7.5% decrease in the pullout resistance of the specimens, respectively.