Effect of Queti-Inclination Angles on Structural Performance of Tibetan Timber Beam-Column Joints

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the structural performance of typical Tibetan timber beam-column joints (BCJs) under vertical load in order to study the effect of queti inclination on the load effects. Five full-scale test specimens are fabricated including one normal joint and four specimens with different queti-inclination angles. The failure modes of components, the evolution of failure of the whole joint with increasing angle of queti inclination, and the load-transferring mechanism of the typical Tibetan timber BCJ are studied. Furthermore, an experimental model of the load-displacement relationship is obtained from nonlinear regression of the experimental data. The structural performance of the joint in terms of the stiffness, yield load, ultimate load-carrying capacity, and their degradation with respect to the queti-inclination angle is investigated. It may be concluded that the queti inclination has a great effect on the deformation caused by floor load. This study provides reference for the safety evaluation and preservation of Tibetan cultural heritage structures.