Roofs are complex elements of heritage structures which are not only meant to
protect the building from exterior methodological factors but are also defining the skyline of a
city while highlighting the importance and aesthetics of the building they belong to. However,
in seismic areas, roof structures prove out to either trigger the out-of-plane behaviour of
historic masonry buildings [1] or reduce the horizontal displacement, depending on their type
and their connection to the masonry walls [2]. The study is therefore aiming do highlight the
effect of common roof structure types from Timisoara, a city placed in the western part of
Romania, subjected to shallow earthquakes, on the seismic behaviour of a local type of masonry
structure, with a ground-floor and 2 upper floors, from the 18th century.
Throughout the study, three different types of roof structures were placed on the same masonry
building and the out-of-plane horizontal displacement, inter-story drift, damage level and
internal forces were assessed. The main scope of the study is to highlight how the chosen roof
structures from the 18th, 19th and 20th century, would influence the behaviour of a masonry
building during seismic events. Detailed numerical simulations using finite element models of
the building and the three roof structures were performed in order to obtain the four assessed
parameters, which prove that, depending on the connection to the masonry walls and the state
of conservation of the timber elements, roof structures would significantly improve the seismic
behaviour of historic masonry buildings in this area.
Abstract
Roofs are complex elements of heritage structures which are not only meant to
protect the building from exterior methodological factors but are also defining the skyline of a
city while highlighting the importance and aesthetics of the building they belong to. However, [...]