Enhancing the In-Plane Behavior of a Hybrid Timber Frame-Mud and Stone Infill Wall Using PP Band Mesh on One Side.

Yinlan Shen,Xingchen Yan,Hui Liu,Guofang Wu,Wei He

doi:10.3390/polym14040773

Abstract

Traditional village dwellings in China consisting of timber frames with mud and stone infill walls represent an important part of cultural heritage and civilization. Due to the lack of an effective link between the wood frame and the infill and the poor cohesiveness of clay, the masonry infill can collapse during an earthquake, whereas the wood frame suffers minimal damage. In this study, current retrofitting techniques for village buildings were investigated and discussed. A method using polypropylene (PP) band mesh and cement mortar to retrofit the timber frame with a mud and stone infill was proposed and the connection construction details were designed. In-plane static cyclic tests were conducted on two full-scale wood–stone hybrid walls reinforced on one side with different grid sizes of the PP band mesh. The failure behaviors of the reinforced and non-reinforced sides of the specimens were compared, and the failure mechanics and seismic capacity of the two specimens, i.e., the strength, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation, were investigated. The results were also compared with those of a previous frame with stone infill without pebbles and no reinforcement. The study indicated that the retrofitting method strengthened the integrity and lateral resistance of the hybrid structure and prevented the collapse of the stone infill of the reinforced surface in a plane earthquake. The grid size of the PP band mesh substantially affected the lateral performance of the reinforced specimens. The hybrid wall with the narrow PP band mesh grid (150 mm × 150 mm) had a higher lateral stiffness (79%) and lateral capacity (50%) than the wall with the wide grid (250 mm × 250 mm). However, the narrow PP band mesh resulted in a lower ductility of the wall than the wide PP band mesh. The involvement of pebbles in the stone infill led to collapses sooner and a weaker lateral resistance than in the structure without pebble infill.

Highlights

We propose for the first time a polypropylene (PP) band mesh retrofitting method based on the techniques used in brick masonry buildings for timber frame buildings with mud and stone infill walls
We propose a PP band mesh retrofitting method for the hybrid timber frame–mud and stone infill structure, based on the PP band mesh retrofitting method used in brick masonry buildings
The PP band mesh was attached to the infill wall and was covered with plastering mortar

Summary

Introduction

Traditional Chinese village buildings are considered folk architecture. They are commonly found in rural locations and are constructed by local craftsmen using local raw material and traditional techniques with regional features. Traditional village dwellings represent a significant part of cultural heritage and civilization for humans worldwide. Traditional Chinese wood dwellings commonly built before the 1970s are the main type of traditional village architecture. The four-beam and eight-column-style residences represent 4.0/).

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Discussion

Conclusion