Recent museum studies have indicated the appearance of cracks and dimensional changes on decorated oak panels in historical Dutch cabinets and panel paintings. A thorough analysis of these damage mechanisms is needed to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the causes of damage and to advise museums on future sustainable preservation strategies and rational guidelines for indoor climate specifications. For this purpose, a combined experimental-numerical characterization of the fracture behaviour of oak wood of various ages is presented in this communication. Three-point bending tests were performed on historical samples dated 1300 and 1668 A.D. and on new samples. The measured failure responses and fracture paths are compared against numerical results computed with a finite element model. The discrete fracture behaviour is accurately simulated by using a robust interface damage model in combination with a dissipation-based path-following technique. The results indicate that the samples dated 1300 A.D. show a quasi-brittle fracture response, while the samples dated 1668 A.D. and the new samples show a rather brittle failure response. Further, the local tensile strength of the oak wood decreases with age in an approximately linear fashion, thus indicating a so-called ageing effect. Numerical simulations show that, due to small imperfections at the notch tip of the specimen, the maximal load carrying capacity under three-point bending may decrease by maximally . A comparison between a calibration of the experimental results by isotropic and orthotropic elastic models shows that the peak load is 10– higher for the orthotropic elastic model. Finally, no significant dependence of the fracture toughness on the age of the oak wood and on the orientation of the fracture plane has been found. The strength and toughness values measured can be used as input for advanced numerical simulations on climate-induced damage in decorated oak wooden panels and panel paintings.

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Indoor climate fluctuations are regarded as one of the major risks for the emergence of damage in historical works of art. For a safe preservation of their art objects museums try to minimize this risk, which is typically done by imposing strict limitations on the indoor temperature and humidity conditions. The high energy demand resulting from this approach, however, undermines the aim of preeminent museums to execute a sustainable preservation strategy of their collections. A rational improvement of this aspect asks for detailed information on the history of museum objects, complemented by a thorough comprehension of the failure and deformation behaviour of museum objects under indoor climate fluctuations. Accordingly, in this paper the hygro-mechanical response of mock-ups of historical Dutch cabinet door panels made of oak wood is examined under several relative humidity variations. In specific, the mock-ups were subjected to (i) an instantaneous decrease of 40% relative humidity, (ii) eight successive, instantaneous drops of 5% relative humidity, and (iii) a varying relative humidity profile ranging between 35 and 71%. The shrinkage characteristics of mock-ups are translated to their damage susceptibility using an analytical hygro-mechanical bi-layer model. This model shows that restrained hygral shrinkage may originate from: (i) a difference in moisture content across the thickness direction of the panel, or (ii) a directional difference in the coefficient of hygroscopic expansions of structural components forming a coherent connection. The first type of shrinkage occurs in the outer regions of the panel thickness, while the second type of shrinkage takes place at the cleated ends. Further, by accounting for the age-dependency of the fracture strength of oak wood, a clear distinction can be made between the damage susceptibility of new door panels and historical door panels present in museum cabinets. The six main conclusions of the experimental study-conveniently summarized at the end of this paper-provide a scientific basis for the understanding of shrinkage cracks and dimensional changes observed on decorated oak wooden panels in historical Dutch cabinets, and thus may assist in advising museums on future sustainable preservation strategies and rational guidelines for indoor climate specifications.

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The competition between fracture and plasticity in periodic hexagonal honeycomb structures subjected to (i) intercell cracking, (ii) intrawall cracking and (iii) transwall cracking is examined, and their effect upon the macroscopic collapse response is explored using dedicated FEM analyses of unit cell configurations. These three cracking mechanisms are regularly observed in wood microstructures, and insight into their influence on the macroscopic collapse behavior is necessary for adequately designing timber structures against failure. The numerical results are presented by means of collapse contours in the hydrostaticdeviatoric stress space, illustrating the effects of wall slenderness, relative fracture (versus yield) strength, and the relative size of the plastic zone at the crack tip. Both the hydrostatic and deviatoric collapse strengths of the honeycomb strongly increase in the transition from brittle cell walls with low relative fracture strength to ductile cell walls with high relative fracture strength. This strength increase typically changes the shape of the collapse contour, and is the largest for transwall cracking, followed by intercell cracking and finally intrawall cracking. The ultimate collapse strength of the honeycomb is significantly more sensitive to the fracture strength than to the fracture toughness of the cell walls, and correctly approaches the plastic yield surface under increasing relative fracture strength. The numerical results may serve as a useful guideline in the experimental calibration of the local fracture and yield strengths of cell walls in wood.