Assessment of the properties to characterise the interface between clay brick substrate and strengthening mortar

•The interface properties between a PFRM strengthening overlay and substrate were analysed.•The mechanical characterisation of the interface based on direct shear tests was discussed.•The obtained failure modes were used to assess the orthotropic properties of the interface.•The constitutive laws of the interface were assessed based on the test results.

The behaviour of masonry elements under in-plane and out-of-plane loads can be improved through the application of strengthening systems based on reinforcing overlays. After strengthening, the transition region between the original substrate and the strengthening layer is especially stressed, and premature failure of the strengthened masonry is reached if insufficient interfacial capacity is assured. Therefore, the assessment of the mechanical behaviour of the interface is critical to the development of the masonry strengthening system based on the application of strengthening overlays.In this research a method for the characterisation of the interface behaviour between two different materials, a polypropylene fibre reinforced mortar (PFRM) and a ceramic brick used for masonry construction is presented. Direct shear tests were carried out in couplet specimens. Due to the orthotropic nature of the bricks surface, the shear load was applied along three different directions in order to perform an overall estimation of the interface behaviour. The peak and residual shear stresses, as well as the failure modes, were obtained at different levels of the normal stress. Based on these experimental results constitutive laws were assessed for the simulation of the interface mechanical behaviour based on the Mohr and Mohr–Coulomb failure criteria.