The reinforcement of ancient timber-joints with carbon nano-composites

Nanostructured materials for protection and reinforcement of timber structures: A review and future challenges

“…These tests proved that although the dispersion in the solvent was efficient, and the dimensions of CNTs were compatible with wood porosity, the overall impregnation technique was not working satisfactorily [55], since in some of the dispersions the CNTs remained agglomerated (Fig. 10c).…”

“…The overall mechanical improvement of the timber specimen was evaluated through a comparison of mechanical tests performed on untreated samples and on samples impregnated with resin and with CNTs resin coating. The bending strength was evaluated by standardized three point bending tests on small wooden samples, and afterwards on full-scale timber elements [55].…”

“…In Italy, given the greater relevance of rehabilitation and conservation, research has focused on the methodologies for consolidating existing historical structures [53][54][55].…”

“…The unique properties of some nanoparticles (carbon black [50] and CNTs) and the possibility of combining them with traditional reinforcing elements (glass fibre, carbon fibre or Kevlar™) have generated an intense research program in the nano-composites sector [50,56,57]. CNTs have a diameter of several nanometres (1-50 nm) and their length measures several microns (up to 10 lm); they have very good potential for improving the electrical and mechanical properties of polymers, even with addition of 0.1% weight content compared to epoxy resin [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. The difficulties lie in transferring these remarkable mechanical, thermal and electrical properties to the polymer matrix.…”

“…Different wood species were considered and the experimentation was carried out with a view to possible in-situ applications of the technique. Laboratory tests were carried out first on small wooden samples, and afterwards on full-scale wooden elements [55].…”