Delamination and decay are common structural defects in old glued laminated timber (glulam) buildings, which, if left undetected, could cause severe structural damage. This paper presents a new damage detection method for glulam inspection based on moment analysis and wavelet transform (WT) of impact acoustic signals. Acoustic signals were collected from a glulam arch section removed from service through impact testing at various locations. The presence and positions of internal defects were preliminarily determined by applying time centroid and frequency centroid of the first moment. Acoustic signals were then decomposed by wavelet packet transform (WPT) and the energy of the sub-bands was calculated as characteristics of the response signals. The sub-bands of 0–375 Hz and 375–750 Hz were identified as the most discriminative features that are associated with decay and delamination and therefore are indicative of the presence of delamination or decay defects. A defect diagnosis algorithm was tested for its ability to identify internal decay and delamination in glulam. The results show that depth of delamination in a glulam member can be determined with reasonable accuracy.
Preliminary results from an experimental program investigating the behaviour of retrofitted glulam beams subjected to static and dynamic loads are presented in this paper. The effect of glass fibre-reinforced-polymer (GFRP) laminates applied on the tension side was investigated under both static and dynamic loading as a potential retrofit on undamaged specimens. Furthermore, previously damaged beams were restored by applying GFRP confinement to the damaged region. The experimental results showed that the capacity of the retrofitted beams was improved significantly and the restored beams attained a significant level of their original dynamic capacity. Future work involves the development of a material predictive model that can account for the high-strain rate effects as well as investigating more retrofit options.
This paper focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a supplementary bridge damage quantification tool. For this study, a glued-laminated timber arch bridge in South Dakota was selected, and an UAV was utilized for the bridge damage quantification. A recommended four-stage UAV-enabled bridge damage quantification protocol involving image quality assessment and image-based damage quantification was developed. A field application using the UAV to measure crack lengths, thicknesses, and rust stain areas of the selected bridge was conducted following the recommended protocol. The image quality parameters, including sharpness and entropy, were used to determine the quality of the UAV-captured images. Pixel- and photogrammetry-based measurements using the high-quality images were obtained to quantify the bridge damage, and the damage was compared to that from actual field measurements. Once the damage information was gathered, the UAV image–based damage level classification was established based on the damage levels defined by current standards. The findings confirmed the accuracy of the recommended protocol, with results within 3.5, 7.9, and 14.9% difference for crack length, thickness, and rust stain area, respectively, when compared with the field measurements.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) products are gaining popularity in the North American market and are being used in midrise wood buildings, in particular, in shearwall applications. Shearwalls provide resistance to lateral loads such as wind and earthquake loads, and therefore it is important to gain a better understanding of the behavior of CLT shearwall systems during earthquake events. This paper is focused on the seismic performance of connections between CLT shearwall panels and the foundation. CLT panels are very stiff and energy dissipation is accomplished by the connections. A literature review on previous research work related to damage prediction and assessment for wood frame structures was performed. Furthermore, a test program was conducted to investigate the performance of CLT connections subjected to simulated earthquake loads. Two different brackets in combination with five types of fasteners were tested under monotonic and cyclic loading protocols. In total, 98 connection tests were conducted and the monotonic load-displacement curves and hysteretic loops were obtained. In this paper, an energy-based cumulative damage assessment model was calibrated with the CLT connection test data. Finally, a correlation between the damage index and physical damage is provided.
Wood-frame is the most common construction type for residential buildings in North America. However, there is a limit to the height of the building using a traditional wood-frame structure. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) provides possible solutions to mid-...
On a number of occasions glued laminated timber breaks apart before the end of their service life. Examples in Germany (Frese M., Blaß H. J. [2011]) and Denmark (Hansson, Larsen [2005] ) show that this problem is real. In order to find the causes of the problem, extensive tests were conducted: 16 buildings with glued laminated timber were examined on the spot, calculations and laboratory work were carried out. These examinations told us that not only did the properties of the wooden material cause the damage, but the problems were also due to the wood used and the method of construction. In the calculations, the external load and residual stresses occurring in the glued laminated timber were included. Residual tensions in this timber were generated by climatic stresses and also due to the method of construction. These stresses also accumulated along with the stresses of the external load. Laboratory work was carried out to measure the delamination. We examined whether these analyses and calculations prove or disprove the results of the on- the- spot examinations.
Design, Fabrication and Operation Proposals for Glued-Laminated Timber, Based on Measuring and Modelling Results, Chapter 1: Literature Review and the Results of Examinations of the Spoil of the Glue Laminated Timber Beams
Glue laminated timber beams have been used in an increasing number of cases in the past 50 years. Glue laminated beams are durable constructs if they are manufactured from adequate quality materials and if their installation and operation are performed to a high quality standard. There are however an increasing number of cases of glue laminated beams suffering damage and as a result entire roof structures becoming life-threatening. Because of the arising problems the most important building complexes in Hungary-in which glue laminated beams are used as bearing structures- have been examined, considering both the demage problems of the existing structures and the operating features of the buildings. Later the reasons for the demages were examined with measurements and caculations. From all these observations conclusions and suggestions have been outlined both for the design, construction and operation.
Cross-laminated Timber (CLT), a new generation of engineered wood product developed initially in Europe, is a relatively innovative building system of interest in the North American construction and is helping to define a new class of timber products known as massive or “mass” timber. This material has been gaining popularity in residential and non-residential applications in several countries due to many advantages it can offer: high dimension stability, high strength and stiffness, high level of prefabrication, fire resistant, cost and energy efficient, renewable and biodegradable, sustainable, and good thermal and sound insulator. However, CLT represents a complicated material whose behavior is difficult to predict in various applications and requires care from the engineers and researchers. Due to the increase of the use of CLT mats for industrial, construction and environmental applications, CLT mats are currently used in industrial applications, this study presents the analysis and behavior of such mats. Three-dimensional non-linear finite element models, using ANSYS, have been created, analyzed and compared with previous experimental work previously performed to validate the models. The model includes detailed modeling, analysis and investigation of the wood material supported by soil. This research shows a non-linear finite element analysis model that can predict CLT behavior. Damage models of CLT is used to determine the failure modes of this material. The analysis results are compared with current industrial practices published guides and highlight the limitations of such procedures. Lastly, a design procedure was developed for the analysis of different configurations such mats.
Damage in recent major earthquakes has resulted in engineers' effort on the development of techniques which not only provide life-safety, but also aim to minimise damage so that buildings could be reoccupied quickly with minimal business interruption and repair costs. In this paper, the new developments on the innovative Resilient Slip Friction Joint (RSFJ) technology are introduced which provide an advanced engineering solution for seismic damage avoidance design of structures. Given the significance of the deformation compatibility in the connections of rocking structures to fully satisfy the low-damage design concept, the performance of the RSFJ under in-and out-of-plane rotations has been investigated analytically and experimentally. The results demonstrate the RSFJ rotational flexibility in addition to the main translational deformability, owing to the discs springs providing the chance for the separation and prying of the RSFJ clamped plates without losing the joint integrity. The comparison between the predictions and the test results verifies the accuracy of the model developed. Also, different applications of the RSFJ technology have been presented adoptable for new structures as well as retrofitting of earthquake-prone buildings.
The field of Civil Engineering has lately gained increasing interest in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), commonly referred to as drones. Due to an increase of deteriorating bridges according to the report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a more efficient and cost-effective alternative for bridge inspection is required. The goal of this paper was to analyze the effectiveness of drones as supplemental bridge inspection tools. In pursuit of this goal, the selected bridge for inspection was a three-span gluedlaminated timber girder with a composite concrete deck located near the city of Keystone in the state of South Dakota (SD). A drone, a Dà-Jiang Innovations (DJI) Phantom 4, was utilized for this study. Also, an extensive literature review to gain knowledge on current bridge inspection techniques using drones was conducted. The findings from the literature review served as the basis for the development of a five-stage drone-enabled bridge inspection methodology. A field inspection utilizing the drone was performed following the stages of the methodology, and the findings were compared to current historical inspection reports provided by the SD Department of Transportation (SDDOT). Quantified data using the drone such as a spalled area of 0.18 m2, which is identical to the measurement provided by the SDDOT (0.3 m by 0.6 m), demonstrated the efficiency of the drone to inspect the bridge. This study detailed drone-enabled inspection principles and relevant considerations to obtain optimum data acquisition. The field investigation of the bridge demonstrated the image quality and damage identification capabilities of the drone to perform bridge inspection at a lower cost when compared to traditional methods.
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