Research efforts being devoted to traditional Chuan-Dou timber structures after Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan

M. F. Hsu, W. S. Chang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Chi-Chi earthquake of 1999 struck many traditional timber structures, which resulted in irreversible disaster to cultural heritage in Taiwan. Since then, many efforts had been devoted to investigation on the structural behaviour of these historic buildings. This paper addresses the efforts being invested to studies on the issue aforementioned. Timber is one of the materials that frequently used in historic buildings in Taiwan. A five-year research project was initiated to explore the structural behaviour of traditional Chuan-Dou timber structures. The project involved explorations on the mechanical behaviour of structural components in the beginning, followed by studies on behaviour of the entire structure, which we call the bottom-up approach. In the first stage, an extensive field survey was conducted from central to southern Taiwan to collect the necessary information for experimental designs and tectonic analyses of traditional Chuan-Dou timber structures. Later, studies concerning the mechanical performances of their timber connections and timber shear walls were carried out by experiments and analytical approaches. Tests were also conducted on traditional mud shear walls to obtain the strength within various types of bamboo lath of these mud shear walls. After mechanical performance of these structural components were obtained, full-scale experiments on traditional timber frames were then carried out to study the global behaviour in contrast to those of structural components. The five-year project in Taiwan demonstrates that the structural behaviour of these traditional timber structures can be studied by a bottom-up process and good results obtained.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStructural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture X
Pages143-152
Number of pages10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007
Event10th International Conference on Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture, STREMAH 2007 - Prague, Czech Republic
Duration: 2007 Jun 42007 Jun 6

Publication series

NameWIT Transactions on the Built Environment
Volume95
ISSN (Print)1743-3509

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture, STREMAH 2007
Country/TerritoryCzech Republic
CityPrague
Period07-06-0407-06-06

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Architecture
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Automotive Engineering
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Transportation
  • Safety Research
  • Computer Science Applications

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