In Situ Observations on the Crack Morphology in the Ancient Timber Beams

Nicola Ruggieri
Additional contact information
Nicola Ruggieri: Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Province of Cosenza, 87100 Cosenza, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: The conservation of ancient structures is, in the construction panorama, a highly eco-sustainable operation. In fact, it provides for a very limited consumption of resources. This article provides an in-depth analysis of ancient wooden material, an essential element for drawing up correct conservation interventions. Ancient timber beams have a peculiar morphology of failure dependent on many factors, among which are the species of wood, the quality of the material-knots, presence of fissures caused by shrinkage (checks), direction of the grain, and environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. In addition, it is linked to load conditions and static configuration. This paper presents a case study of failed ancient timber members still in place and describes the type of failure as well as the origin and propagation of the cracks. The objective is to provide a classification of the causes and of the effects and their evolution, useful to practitioners and to those who have to make decisions on the timber structures conservation.

Keywords: ancient timber beam; flexural failure; cracks morphology; diagnosis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/439/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/439/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:1:p:439-:d:475250

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().