STRETCH | Smart Textiles for RETrofitting and Monitoring of Cultural Heritage Buildings

Summary
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.
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Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/896300
Start date: 01-03-2021
End date: 31-07-2023
Total budget - Public funding: 183 473,28 Euro - 183 473,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

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.

Status

SIGNED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2019

Update Date

28-04-2024
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