Behavior assessment of Beylerbeyi Palace timber roof connections

BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT OF BEYLERBEYI PALACE TIMBER ROOF CONNECTIONS Historical timber roofs constitute a significant part of our cultural heritage as well as many countries of the world. In this study, the timber roof system of Beylerbeyi Palace, one of the significant historical monuments of İstanbul, was evaluated through on-site observations and experimental investigations. In addition, improvement/support and intervention suggestions for traditional connection types used in the roof system were investigated experimentally. In the first stage, field studies were carried out to understand the original condition of the historical roof and gather information about materials, connection types and fasteners. In the second stage the traditional half lap "T" type connection used in the Beylerbeyi Palace timber roof was selected to understand its behavior with experiments. Then, the behaviors of 4 different dowel-type timber connections with 3 different (screw, plate, angles) fasteners were examined experimentally. A total of 12 test specimens were tested. The main objective of the experimental study was to understand the behavior of both traditional and mechanically fastened timber connections, determine their load-carrying capacities, and identify the damage zones.