Experimental and numerical analysis of a non-dismantling repair method for ancient timber arch lounge bridges

Abstract

Ancient timber arch lounge bridges are precious cultural heritages in China. The woven arch is the main load-bearing structure of the timber arch lounge bridges, and repairing the woven arch is a very important work in the protection of the ancient timber arch lounge bridges, yet there are few studies on the repair methods. This paper proposes a non-dismantling repair method for the woven arch to meet the repair principle of cultural relics, with minimal repair and minimal interference. This method can be used to replace a small number of the components individually. A strengthened spliced log with a lap joint is used to replace the damaged longitudinal log of the woven arch without dismantling the entire structure. Large-scale model experiments and finite element analyses were performed in this paper to study the effects of the repair method on the woven arch. Deflection and force distribution changes of the woven arch caused by the replacement of the longitudinal logs of the woven arch were studied. The results of finite element analyses are in good agreement with the experimental results. The results show that, under dead load, dismantling a longitudinal log of the woven arch has little interference with the deflection. After dismantling a member of the woven arch, the axial force of the dismantled member will transfer to the adjacent members in the same system. The bearing capacity of the repaired woven arch is comparable to the intact woven arch.