Repair and Reinforcement of Historic Timber Structures with Stainless Steel—A Review

Recent trends in the use of stainless steel profiles for repair and reinforcement of historic timber structures, after degradation due to biotic and non-biotic attacks, are discussed in this paper. These structural challenges can vary from inadequate load carrying capacity to complexities involved with choice of repair materials and techniques. Given the recurring requirements of conservation authorities in terms of reversibility of interventions and compatibility between historic and new materials, an increase in the use of non-invasive reinforcement materials and reversible techniques was observed. Subsequently, engineers and researchers have increasingly employed stainless steel alloys in retrofitting historic timber structures. This paper therefore presents the state of the art in the use of stainless steel profiles in retrofitting timber structural elements within historic structures. It includes a review of the development of the retrofitting methods and existing experimental studies on the mechanical behavior of timber structures reinforced with stainless steel. Finally, it presents a number of case studies and draws conclusions on current trends and practices based on reported studies.