Combining Architectural Conservation and Seismic Strengthening in the Wood-Based Retrofitting of a Monumental Timber Roof: The Case Study of St. Andrew’s Church in Ceto, Brescia, Italy

This work presents the application of timber-based retrofitting techniques to a case-study stone masonry church featuring a wooden roof from 18^th century. From the static point of view, the original roof structure presented a number of undersized structural elements, and its members were poorly or not connected among each other and...

Optimizing Seismic Capacity of Existing Masonry Buildings by Retrofitting Timber Floors: Wood-Based Solutions as a Dissipative Alternative to Rigid Concrete Diaphragms

The inadequate seismic performance of existing masonry buildings is often linked to the excessively low in-plane stiffness of timber diaphragms and the poor quality of their connections to the walls. However, relevant past studies and seismic events have also shown that rigid diaphragms could be detrimental for existing buildings and do not...

Students in high-rise: Aspects influencing the design of tall timber buildings

Tall timber buildings are of growing interest worldwide and also in the Netherlands. With the introduction of CLT, higher timber buildings are possible compared to traditional timber frame housing. Tall timber buildings can be made as modular buildings or as buildings with a CLT or concrete core and a timber wall/column-floor system that can...

Monotonic, cyclic and dynamic behaviour of timber-masonry connections

Historical or existing buildings are often composed of brick or stone masonry walls, and timber floors and roofs. When these buildings are subjected to earthquakes, the interaction among such structural components is essential to avoid collapse or excessive damage to the constructions. In this framework, a crucial role is played by the...

Dissipative properties of timber diaphragms strengthened with plywood panels

In the field of seismic retrofitting, a common intervention to improve box-like behaviour in an existing building is the strengthening and stiffening of existing timber floors and roofs. However, these retrofitting methods should be carefully applied, because they change the static scheme and the buildings' response to earthquakes....

Test report on cyclic behaviour of plank-joist connections of samples extracted from existing buildings

This report presents the materials, experiment setups and testing procedures directed at determining the back-bone curves that describe the plank-joist connections of samples extracted from existing unreinforced masonry houses. The last section contains an overview of the results obtained for the different specimens tested. The use of the...

Test report on material properties of timber and fasteners extracted from existing buildings

This report presents the material properties of timber and fasteners specimen extracted from existing unreinforced masonry houses.

Test report on cyclic behaviour of replicated timber diaphragms representing a detached house

The in-plane strength and stiffness as well as the hysteretic behaviour of timber diaphragms is investigated by performing quasi-static cyclic tests. In this report the behaviour of traditional timber floors and roof configurations was studied representing a typical detached masonry house. The configurations are based on a case study from a...

Comparison of theoretical and experimental determination of deformations of timber façade elements against wind load

The current practice is that the deformations of timber façade elements are determined by testing, or they are limited by prescribing dimensions in a very conservative way. To use generic calculation models, suitable for almost all types of windows, approximations deviating from the actual behaviour have to be done. This paper investigates if a...