POLETTI, ELISA1; VASCONCELOS, GRAÇA2

1) PhD, Postdoctoral researcher, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics, elisapoletti@gmail.com

2) PhD, Assistant Professor, ISISE, University of Minho, Department of Civil Engineering, graca@civil.uminho.pt

Timber frame structures constitute an important cultural heritage of many countries, since they represent a typical anti-seismic construction adopted worldwide. Therefore, the preservation of these structures is of the utmost importance. To better understand the behaviour of such structures, an experimental program was carried out performing in-plane cyclic tests on full scale timber frame walls. Among the various parameters studied, the influence of the presence of masonry infill in the timber frame was included.

In detail, in-plane cyclic tests were carried out on timber frame walls with and without infill and after failure on the walls with appropriate strengthening solutions including using bolts and steel plates to examine them in the retrofitted condition.

From the test results it was clear that the presence of infill considerably influences the response of the walls in terms of lateral resistance, stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and ultimate load capacity.

Keywords: masonry infill, timber frame, cyclic test, retrofitting, steel plates, energy dissipation