GONÇALVES, ANA MARIA1,FERREIRA, JOÃO GOMES2, GUERREIRO, LUÃS3, BRANCO, FERNANDO4
1) PhD student, Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, DECivil, goncalves.amn@gmail,com
2) Associate Professor, Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, DECivil, joao.gomes.ferreira@ist.utl.pt
3) Associate Professor, Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, DECivil, luisg@civil.ist.utl.pt
4) Full Professor, Technical University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, DECivil, fbranco@civil.ist.utl.pt
In 1755 a big earthquake stroke Lisbon and destroyed most of the city buildings. Envisaging the city reconstruction an innovative building structural system was then developed consisting of a timber skeleton, constituted by timber framed masonry walls and floor beams – a 3-D cage –, which provided increased deformation capacity and resistance against seismic loading.
Although these structures present an improved design against earthquakes, after more than 250 years they claim for rehabilitation because of their natural degradation, inadequate interventions they have been subjected to and because of the new codes’ more demanding rules for earthquake resistance. In this context, an adequate seismic strengthening strategy must comprise the reinforcement of timber framed walls, as they are a key structural element regarding horizontal loading.
The research presented in this paper aimed at experimentally characterizing and numerically simulating the cyclic behaviour of reinforced timber framed walls. The reinforcing system analysed consisted of using steel plates to strengthen the connections between timber elements, which proved to be the most efficient among different solutions formerly studied.
Along with the experimental characterization, a finite element modelling was developed, using the ABAQUS software, to simulate the structural behaviour of the reinforced elements tested. Those models were calibrated based on the experimental behaviour and parametric studies were then conducted.
Keywords: Timber framed walls; earthquake; steel plates; reinforcement; cyclic loading tests