Increasing the loading capacity of limestone roofing slabs (xorok) by using NSM reinforcement

Abstract

In an international culture of retrofitting first as a preferred sustainable approach to demolish and re-building, this study will shed light on how the structural life of traditional buildings may be extended and enhanced. In order to increase the loading capacity of the stone slabs, this research will investigate how Near Surface Mounted (NSM) reinforcement could be applied to the bottom side of the stone slabs (tension side). The investigation will go forward with the research that Mangion (2011) did for his dissertation. While maintaining Mangion's research as an important study, this study seeks to offer new alternatives. Although stone is a brittle material and grooves in the material may weaken it, it should be expected that by increasing the number of reinforcement strips attached to the slabs, the loading capacity would be increased. The results of this study will inform the industry a best practice installation guidance for contractors. This study makes use of two different properties of the traditional Maltese stone slabs. These samples are reinforced in different locations with either mild steel or stainless steel. Four-point flexure test was applied to analyze the stone samples. The study concluded that NSM reinforcement works better when applied to longer spans and a central reinforcement will further increase the loading capacity of the stone slabs.