Strengthening Effect of the Fixing Method of Polypropylene Band on Unreinforced Brick Masonry in Flexural, Shear, and Torsion Behaviors

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 Consider omitting "The" from the title

Quite a study can be considered for possible publication after addressing the following comments.

Abstract is not up to the mark. The abstract should contain testing performed and the major results.

Consider using Newtons as Weight units not kg.

Please consider including the type of cement and sand, as well as their respective fineness values in the tables. Additionally, could you provide the specific gravity values for both cement and sand within this study? These specific gravity values should be added to the tables.

The water-to-cement ratio (W/C), which is equal to 0.7, is relatively high, indicating a significant amount of water in the mixture compared to the amount of cement. A high W/C ratio can compromise both strength and durability. Additionally, why the use of additives such as plasticizers or air-entraining agents was not considered in this research?

Please explain the difference between a PP band and PP fiber. Please elucidate the primary application of PP bands in structural contexts during earthquakes.

If steel bands were used in this study instead of PP bands, what would be the expected outcome? Could you provide an explanation?

A three-point bending test was employed for bricks. What are the advantages of this test in comparison to the center-point bending test?" Please include in the test.

How many PP bands were used in a 1-meter wall length, and could you also provide the spacing between two bands?

Please explain the characteristics of the load-deflection relationship for the unreinforced specimens at the center, as shown in Figure 14(a)?

In comparison to previous studies [13,14,15], how does your proposed method stand out in terms of load-carrying capacity and deflection improvement?

Please explain the relationship between shear strength and pre-compression levels (σ) for the unreinforced specimens as depicted in Figure 16(a)? In N/mm2 the 2 shall be superscript

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Its fine.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are deeply grateful to the reviewer for careful and thorough reading of the manuscript and for constructive suggestions, which are very helpful for improving the manuscript. We hope that this revised manuscript meets your expectations. 

Best regards,

Ta Quy Hung

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Please see the attachment.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, 

We are deeply grateful to the reviewer for careful and thorough reading of the manuscript and for constructive suggestions, which are very helpful for improving the manuscript. We hope that this revised manuscript meets your expectations. 

Best regards,

Ta Quy Hung