Destructive tests for mechanical characterization of in situ structural timber

In this paper the results of an experimental campaign aimed at assessing the structural behavior of ancient chestnut beams are presented. The analyzed timber beams are more than two hundred years old, belonged to a floor structure of an existing building and presented both natural defects and different types of degradation, which are typical of in situ timber elements. In particular, compression tests were carried out along the direction parallel to the grain; they were conducted on both actual dimension specimens and defect-free small specimens. The obtained results allowed to define a specific procedure to assess the design compression strength to be used for in-situ timber structures, based on the assumption of some safety and defectiveness coefficients, which could be determined according to the type of specimen and the defectiveness of the structural element under consideration.