Enhancement of the identification of historical timber element’s local stiffness based on resistance drilling measurements

Assessing aged historical timber structures’ residual capacity is challenging. Attempts to relate the results of local non-destructive tests to the timber element’s global behaviour have shown insufficient correlations. This research aims at enhancing the assessment of a historical timber element’s global mechanical behav-iour based on local non-destructive testing. The first step, presented in this paper, is the identification of the local stiffness of a timber element based on resistance drilling measurements. An experimental test program was designed for beams in European Oak and is representative for the assessment of mechanical properties of timber elements in compression. This paper discusses the first part of the experimental test program, in which a total of 30 small samples with a cross section of 20 by 20 mm and a height of 60 mm were taken from three different timber elements. The aim is to link the results of resistance drilling measurements to the local timber stiffness. The second part of the experimental test pro-gram will investigate how to integrate the local stiffness into a Finite Element model in order to improve the numerical analysis of a timber element’s global mechanical behaviour in compression. The prediction of the timber element’s residual structural capacity using NDT tests contributes to a more accurate assessment of historical timber structures and their preservation.

ISBN:978-3-319-99440-6

Publication year:2019