Project description
Innovative textiles for upgrading cultural heritage buildings
Recent earthquakes and natural disasters have deteriorated the structural performance of old and cultural heritage buildings (CHBs) in the EU. At the same time, CHBs are high energy-consuming buildings. Consequently, the need for upgrading the existing CHB and the adoption of innovative techniques for seismic resilience, energy retrofitting and structural health monitoring (SHM) become increasingly significant. The role of SHM is critical for the constant assessment of buildings’ structural status and the generation of cost-effective maintenance proposals. The EU-funded STRETCH project will develop innovative techniques based on smart multi-functional materials to increase CHB resilience and reduce energy consumption. The project examines a new method that integrates technical textile reinforcement with thermal insulation and strain sensors, providing both structural-plus-energy retrofitting and SHM.
Objective
This project aims to develop novel techniques using smart multifunctional materials for the combined seismic-plus-energy retrofitting, and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of the European cultural heritage buildings (CHB). The need for upgrading the existing old and CHB is becoming increasingly important for the EU countries, due to: (1) their poor structural performance during recent earthquakes (e.g. Italy, Greece) or other natural hazards (e.g. extreme weather conditions) that have resulted in significant economic losses, and loss of human lives; and (2) their low energy performance which increases significantly their energy consumption (buildings are responsible for 40% of EU energy consumption). Moreover, the SHM of the existing buildings is crucial for assessing continuously their structural integrity and thus to provide information for planning cost effective and sustainable maintenance decisions. Since replacing the old buildings with new is not financially feasible, and even it is not allowed for CHB, their lifetime extension requires considering simultaneously both structural and energy retrofitting. It is noted that the annual cost of repair and maintenance of existing European building stock is estimated to be about 50% of the total construction budget, currently standing at more than €300 billion. To achieve cost effectiveness, STRETCH explores a novel approach, which integrates technical textile reinforcement with thermal insulation systems and strain sensors to provide simultaneous structural-plus-energy retrofitting combined with SHM, tailored for masonry cultural heritage building envelopes. The effectiveness of the proposed retrofitting system will be validated experimentally and analytically. Moreover, draft guidelines and recommendations for determining future research on the use of smart composite materials for the concurrent retrofitting (structural-plus-energy) and SHM of the existing cultural heritage buildings envelopes will be proposed.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringstructural engineeringstructural health monitoring
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextiles
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesphysical geographynatural disasters
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
1049 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgium