Research on sorting reinforcement and repair order of ancient timber buildings based on an ordered fractile weight method

Abstract

Abstract Ancient timber buildings have existed for a long time. However, due to wood’s natural characteristics, it is prone to damage such as insect infestation, decay, and cracking, resulting in structural unsafety. Therefore, partial and intermittent reinforcement and repair are essential for maintaining ancient timber buildings. Due to limited financial and material resources, it is critical to determine and sort the priority order of reinforcing and repairing ancient timber buildings. In this study, an ordered fractile weighted method was adopted to establish a sorting method that reviews the incentive preferences of decision-makers during the information aggregation process and measures the development levels of the evaluated objects on various indicators. A case study was also used to trial the sorting method. By using the weighted sum with weights not equal to 1 in the information aggregation process, the aggregation values were reduced, thereby further highlighting the differences between the evaluated objects. The method was concluded to be flexible in application and could address the rational sorting of reinforcement and repair order for ancient timber buildings. Thus, it provides a basis for decision-making for the protection and management of ancient buildings.