FP1101 and RILEM TC 245 RTE Training School on Assessment and Reinforcement of Timber Elements and Structures: The Role of the Academic Community in Disseminating Knowledge

Abstract

In the past decades, timber has been considered as a secondary construction material owing to the emergence of other materials such as concrete and steel, and as a consequence a large amount of knowledge on how to use timber has been forgotten or even lost. This has led to badly designed interventions on timber structures, which have misinterpreted the past structural solution and led to significant structural performance problems. However, the European research community has made a significant effort towards the dissemination of knowledge regarding the design and assessment of timber structures. Within that scope, COST FP1101 had the objective of increasing the acceptance of timber in both the design of new structures, as well as in the repair of old buildings by developing and disseminating methods to assess, reinforce and monitor them. To that aim, FP1101 and RILEM TC 245 RTE in collaboration with the University of Minho (Portugal) organized a Training School (TS) on the assessment and reinforcement of timber elements and structures during 11–14 May, 2015. The training school had the objective of disseminating knowledge to young researchers, as well as to others interested in wood and timber construction and the rehabilitation market. During the TS, several experts provided information on the assessment of existing timber structures, visual grading, interventions on heritage buildings and on analysis, repair and reinforcement of traditional and dowelled timber connections and structures. Also, full-scale tests on an old timber trusses and on connections were made examining both the original conditions and post failure reinforcement. This work presents the different areas of knowledge that were scope of that training school and its main achievements on the dissemination of knowledge to young researchers and other interested groups.