Experimental Study on the Structural Behavior of the Oldest Timber Frame in China

The main hall of the Nanchan Temple, the oldest wooden building of the Tang Dynasty (782 C.E.) in China, was built 1200 years ago, representing a valuable heritage building. Thus far, research on the Nanchan Temple has focused on stylistic comparisons and historical documentary evidence. This study concentrates on the oldest timber-framed structure, with our experiments designed to understand the structural behavior of the hall. In this study, a 1:10-scaled specimen of a timber-framed building was fabricated based on the construction method of Yingzao Fashi, and the main hall of the Nanchan Temple was first reviewed; then, quasi-static tests were conducted under different vertical loads to ascertain the seismic mechanism of the oldest wooden building. The stiffness, energy dissipation, vertical load transfer path, bending stress of the component, and axial force were investigated. According to the results obtained on the vertical load transfer path, the roof was found to cause stress to the structural sections. The results indicate that the vertical load of the roof above Cha Shou is transferred down through Ping Liang; it then passes through Ping Liang to Tuo Feng and eventually passes to Sichuan Fu, which causes deformation. We increased the vertical loads, resulting in the increased lateral resistance (resilience) of the Nanchan Temple, and the stability of the timber-framed building in relation to the vertical loads was investigated. Moreover, the effects of horizontal and vertical loads were studied, and thus, we provide proposals for repair and conservation.

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