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Strengthening and Retrofitting of Existing Structures pp 113–138Cite as

Repair and Strengthening of Traditional Timber Roof and Floor Structures

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Part of the book series: Building Pathology and Rehabilitation ((BUILDING,volume 9))

Abstract

In many countries, traditional buildings comprise timber roof and floor structures. Most of these structures are degraded from different causes and need to be repaired or strengthened to ensure current and/or to fulfil the requirements of a new use of the building. Current knowledge assumes the need to preserve and to protect existing timber structural systems as a cultural value, with important advantages to the overall behaviour of the building. This growing sensibility towards the preservation and maintenance of heritage buildings has led researchers to study different repair and strengthening solutions. In the case of timber roof structures, this strengthening in many cases involves the connections between the roof structural members. Joint strengthening can be done with different methods, traditional or modern ones, using well-chosen materials, simple techniques or more sophisticated ones: from simple replacement or addition of new fasteners, to the use of timber or metal elements, glued composites, or even full injection with fluid adhesives. Each solution has advantages and disadvantages concerning conservation philosophy, architecture, aesthetics, construction issues and moreover unique consequences in engineering terms for the joint final strength, stiffness and ductility. All the above have to be evaluated in order the proper intervention to be chosen for each case. The main problem of existing timber floors is their low stiffness, which results in high bending deformations and vibrations under service loads. Permanent deflection due to creep can also reach critical values. Moreover, in earthquake prone areas, if seismic resistance has to be assured in existing masonry buildings, both roof and floor diaphragm behaviour must be achieved. This chapter aims to present a state-of-the-art review mainly on strengthening solutions for timber roof and floor structures, focusing on the most promising techniques taken into account the level of intrusion and reversibility. “Dry” interventions, based on timber or timber based elements will be highlighted.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISISE, Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal

    Jorge M. Branco

  2. URBAINE, Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium

    Thierry Descamps

  3. National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Eleftheria Tsakanika

Authors
  1. Jorge M. Branco
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  2. Thierry Descamps
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  3. Eleftheria Tsakanika
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jorge M. Branco .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, RISCO, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Aníbal Costa

  2. CONSTRUCT-LESE, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    António Arêde

  3. CONSTRUCT-LESE, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Humberto Varum

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Branco, J.M., Descamps, T., Tsakanika, E. (2018). Repair and Strengthening of Traditional Timber Roof and Floor Structures. In: Costa, A., Arêde, A., Varum, H. (eds) Strengthening and Retrofitting of Existing Structures. Building Pathology and Rehabilitation, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5858-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5858-5_5

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