Seismic Vulnerability Assessment and Strengthening of Heritage Timber Buildings: A Review

Abstract

Recent studies highlight the potential impact of earthquakes on cultural heritage sites and monuments, which in turn yield significant adverse impacts on economies, politics, and societies. Several aspects such as building materials, structural responses, and restoration strategies must be considered in the conservation of heritage structures. Timber is an old organic construction material. Most of the historic timber structures were not designed to withstand seismic forces; therefore, the seismic vulnerability assessment of heritage timber structures in areas with high seismic hazard is essential for their conservation. For this purpose, different strategies for the numerical modeling of heritage timber buildings have been developed and validated against tests results. After performing seismic analysis using detailed analytical methods and predicting the susceptible structural components, strengthening techniques should be utilized to mitigate the risk level. To this aim, various methods using wooden components, composite material, steel components, SMA etc., have been utilized and tested and are reviewed in this study. There are still some gaps, such as full-scale numerical modeling of strengthened buildings and investigating the soil–structure interaction effects on the seismic behavior of buildings that should be investigated.

Digital twin application in heritage facilities management: systematic literature review and future development directions

“…A number of qualitative and quantitative analytical tools, such as Risk Matrix, Failure mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Failure Tree Analysis (FTA) (Ram ırez Eudave and Ferreira, 2021), can be used to predict the vulnerability scenarios to assess the vulnerability of the heritage buildings. Seismic vulnerability is commonly assessed (Mondello et al, 2019;Shabani et al, 2021;Aguilar et al, 2023). Other vulnerability analyses include fire occurrence (Agapiou et al, 2016), air pollution (Hadjimitsis et al, 2013), precipitation data and flood events (Skilodimou et al, 2019), sea erosion, salinity and coast exposure (Hadjimitsis et al, 2013;Agapiou et al, 2016).…”

A Wooden Pin Reinforcement of Ancient Chinese Wooden Temple: A Case of Daxiong Hall

“…For several decades, finite element (FE) simulation has been widely employed by the scholars to study ancient wood structures [28,29]. Fang et al [30] developed various numerical modeling strategies to explore the mechanical properties of MTJs in traditional wood structures and deduced the average stiffness range of through-mortise joints (TMNs).…”

A review of graphical user interfaces of OpenSees software framework

“…The behavior of structures under seismic loads is characterized by high complexity and nonlinearity, rendering traditional linear analysis methods insufficient in capturing the full extent of their response (Caprili et al, 2012;Sandoli et al, 2021). Consequently, advanced techniques like nonlinear static and dynamic analysis have become imperative for accurately predicting how structures will react to earthquakes (Shabani et al, 2021a;Gönen and Soyöz, 2022). These sophisticated analysis methods empower engineers to design structures that can effectively withstand seismic forces, thereby mitigating the risk of structural failure and safeguarding lives and property (Shabani et al, 2021b).…”