Authors: E. Poletti, G. Vasconcelos, J. M. Branco, A. M. Koukouviki

Timber connections are an important part of a timber structure and a great variability exists in terms of types of connections and mechanisms. Taking as case study the traditional timber frame structures, the half-lap joint was selected. Connections play a major role in the overall behaviour of a structure, particularly when assessing their seismic response, since damage is concentrated at the connections. Therefore, an experimental campaign was carried out on traditional half-lap joints to assess their in-plane response, carrying out pull-out and in-plane cyclic tests. Subsequently, the connections were retrofitted using self-tapping screws, steel plates and GFRP sheets. In this paper, the experimental results are presented taking into account factors such as dissipated energy, damping and influence on the wall behaviour.

E. Poletti¹, G. Vasconcelos², J. M. Branco², A. M. Koukouviki³
1 NCG, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Nottingham, UK
2 ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal
3 Freelance Civil Engineer, Thessaloniki, Greece