Role of timber structural elements in the seismic response of masonry structures in the Himalayan region

A large share of the buildings today is still masonry buildings, both reinforced and unreinforced. Post-earthquake reconnaissance studies have shown a remarkable difference between the performance of reinforced and unreinforced masonry buildings. While the unreinforced masonry buildings tend to suffer severe damage, even collapse, resulting in...

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...

Analytical and numerical modelling of the in-plane response of timber diaphragms retrofitted with plywood panels

In the region of Groningen (NL), human-induced earthquakes initiated by gas extraction are causing structural damage. In that area, the building stock is mainly composed of unrein- forced masonry (URM) buildings with light and flexible timber floors and roofs. Thus, an ex- perimental campaign was arranged for assessing the in-plane response of...

An analytical model describing the in-plane behaviour of timber diaphragms strengthened with plywood panels

Timber diaphragms in existing buildings are often too flexible in their plane, and can thus potentially cause out-of-plane collapses of walls during earthquakes. A very efficient retrofitting method to increase their in-plane stiffness and energy dissipation is the overlay of plywood panels. However, the usual characterization of the floors by...

Experimental and analytical evaluation of the in-plane behaviour of as-built and strengthened traditional wooden floors

Traditional timber floors cannot normally withstand horizontal seismic loads without large deformations. This may lead to a corresponding out-of-plane collapse of masonry walls in existing buildings. This situation is even more critical in the Netherlands, around the city of Groningen, where human-induced earthquakes started to take place....