A peeling test known as the “Scotch Tape test” has been used for more than 40 years in conservation practice for assessing the consolidation efficiency of degraded stone. However, the method has not been supported by any standard or reliably verified recommendations for its application. Its applicability is overestimated, and its unrestricted use without adequate knowledge and sufficient understanding can lead to non-comparable, non-reproducible and, in many cases, incorrect and severely biased results and assessments. This paper presents the results of a recent study focused on establishing limits for application, reliable procedures and a “standard” protocol for testing the cohesion characteristics of brittle and quasi-brittle materials, mainly mortars and stones. The main application strategy exploits repeated peeling in the same place on a surface in order to eliminate the effect of the natural decrease in the detached material from the subsurface layers, which might be incorrectly interpreted as a consolidation effect. There is a discussion of factors influencing the performance of the peeling test method, and examples of peeling measurements on various natural and artificial stones are presented.
SUMMARYA series of dynamic experiments was performed on two-story glue-laminated timber frames. The tests included sinusoidal sweeps in one direction, arbitrary signals simulating earthquake loads in two directions, and harmonic free vibration at the fundamental frequency. Two experimental frames were manufactured and tested: (1) a control with horizontal laminations and no reinforcement at joint areas, and (2) a new frame design with densiÿed material in the joint area that was further reinforced by glassÿber composite material. Preliminary tests of scaled and full-size beam-to-column connections were performed to obtain connection characteristics needed for subsequent analytical modeling.
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