Timber buildings might incur damages after a long service, because column foot damage affects the structural performance under the continued use. In this paper, six straight-tenon joint wood frame specimens were prepared with varying degrees of two different damage conditions at a scale of 1 : 3.52. To obtain failure mode and hysteresis performance of the specimens, the low-cycle reciprocating loading test was conducted. The stiffness degradation curves and equivalent viscous damping curves of the damaged wood frames were also analysed. The mechanical characteristics of the wood frames with column foot damage under the low-cycle reciprocating load were then simulated using the finite element method, and the results were compared to the test results. It is determined that as the degree of column foot damage increases, the fullness and peak of the hysteresis curves for wood frames, the equivalent viscous damping coefficients, and the overall seismic behaviour of the wood frame all gradually decrease. The skeleton curves obtained by finite element analysis and tests showed good agreement, verifying the influence of column foot damage on the seismic behaviour of ancient wood frame structures.
The relationship between the mechanical properties of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese fir) wood and the development of fungal decay was investigated with the aim of implementing a statistical model useful as a non-destructive and a fast method for determining the state of conservation of in-service timber structures. Artificial decay due to brown rot fungi was induced on wood specimens and physical and mechanical test were performed periodically, as well as anatomical observation of wood, FT-IR spectroscopic and XRD diffraction analysis. As a result, Chinese fir was confirmed to have a good durability against fungi, showing a mass loss percentage of 7.21% on average after 14 weeks of exposure. On the contrary, the mechanical properties reduced dramatically during the decay test: a 19% decrease was observed for compression strength and 21% for tensile strength. The mechanism of decay was explored and the corresponding damage constitutive model was proposed.
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