Repairing of a timber truss through two different techniques using timber elements and screwed metal plates

Abstract

Structural reinforcement of timber buildings may be needed due to different reasons such as change of use, deterioration due to lack of maintenance, exceptional damaging incidents or loading, after changes in regulatory specifications, or interventions to increase structural resistance. In this work, two different techniques were considered for repairing a timber truss that was previously assessed on laboratory (test facilities of University of Minho) and taken up to failure during a load-carrying test. A collar beam truss, with more than one hundred years, was tested considering a vertical point load on each main rafter. Failure of the timber truss was located in the sections of the rafters near the loading positions by bending. Repairing techniques, based on the use of timber elements for one of the rafters and on screwed metal plates for the other rafter, were evaluated and compared to the original unstrengthened condition. The efficiency of the combined repairing techniques was evaluated taking into consideration the structural performance of the collar truss, namely its displacement and ultimate load capacity. In this paper, the results of the experimental tests are discussed attending to the analytical calculation of the contribution of the repairing techniques. Also, the different failure scenarios, for original and strengthened truss, were analyzed and compared.