The confining effect of masonry infill on the seismic behaviour of traditional timber frame walls

Abstract

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 real scale timber frame walls. Among the various parameters studied, the influence of the presence of masonry infill in the timber frame was taken into consideration. In detail, in-plane cyclic tests were carried out on timber frame walls with and without infill and appropriate strengthening solutions, namely bolts and steel plates, have been applied on the already tested walls in order to re-test the walls in a retrofitted condition. From the test results it was clear how the presence of infill considerably influences the response of the walls in terms of resisting mechanism, stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and load capacity.