Experimental evaluation of different strengthening techniques of traditional timber connections

A series of monotonic and cyclic tests were performed on unstrengthened specimens, in order to characterize the original behavior of connections, representative of traditional timber trusses. Subsequently, connections strengthened with metal devices were tested under monotonic and cyclic loading. Test data of original connections has been gathered with the purpose of characterizing their behavior, in particular, the post-elastic response and the failure mode. Observing the behavior of strengthened connections under cyclic loading gave straight indications on the positive and negative characteristics of the different strengthening techniques analyzed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.