Mechanical characterization of old chestnut beams

• Author(s): Branco, Jorge M. ; Peixoto, Tiago ; Lourenço, Paulo B. ; Medeiros, Pedro
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/14007
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): NDT; Chestnut beams; Visual inspection; Evaluation
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

The main objective of this work is to evaluate, by non-destructive techniques, seven old Chestnut beams. For that, after the geometric assessment and the detailed visual inspection that allowed to strength grade the beams, a series of non-destructive tests was setup. In a first step, non-destructive bending tests, under the elastic limit, were performed to quantify the modulus of elasticity in bending (MoE) of the seven beams. Then, Resistograph® and Pilodyn® tests were done to assess the superficial decay and to have a clearer idea of the voids dimensions. Then, two beams were tested in bending until failure to evaluate the bending strength. In a second step, end parts were cut from the beams, one per end of the beams, to perform Resistograph®, Pilodyn® and ultrasound tests, to quantify the density of the beams and to extract meso-specimens to be used in tension parallel to the grain tests.