Assessment of nailed connections in existing structures

This paper presents the development of an assessment scheme for a visual qualitative evaluation of nailed connections in existing structures, such as board trusses. In terms of further use and preservation, a quick visual inspection will help to evaluate the quality of a structure regarding its load-bearing capacity and deformation behaviour. Tests of old and new nailed joints in combination with a rating scheme point out the correlation between the load-bearing capacity and condition of a joint. Old joints of comparatively good condition tend to exhibit better results than those of poor condition. Moreover, aged joints are generally more load-bearing than newly assembled ones.