Bond–Slip Mechanism of Rammed Earth–Timber Joints in Chinese Hakka Tulou Buildings
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 5
Abstract
Hakka Tulou, a traditional form of Chinese building made of rammed earth and a timber frame, is characterized by its remarkable geometries, excellent thermal comfort, sustainability, and cultural value. The joints between rammed-earth walls and timber floor beams are critical structural elements and require an in-depth understanding of the load-bearing capacity for Hakka Tulou. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that investigates the bond–slip mechanism between timber beams and rammed earth. Eight pull-out tests were conducted on rammed earth–timber (RET) joints, in which the influence of compressive load, embedment length, and surface roughness was systematically studied. RET joints were analyzed based on the elastic solid-to-solid and pile-to-soil behaviors. The experimental results show that the bond–slip behavior could mainly be attributed to the friction, which depended on the normal stress and matric suction of unsaturated compacted earth. The test results were satisfactorily explained by geotechnical theories. Given the initial strength resulting from compaction and mobilized friction due to compression, a bond–slip model for rammed-earth structures was proposed. The parameters for the elastic zone were suggested for use in structural design. Rammed-earth buildings should be analyzed based on the principles of unsaturated soil mechanics, rather than elastic solid mechanics, even though rammed earth and underground soil are under fundamentally different conditions. The proposed design method for earth–timber joints could be applied to analyze Hakka Tulou or other similar earth buildings.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their thorough and most helpful comments. This work is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51878302 and 52078225).
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 5 • May 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 14, 2020
Accepted: Dec 11, 2020
Published online: Feb 18, 2021
Published in print: May 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 18, 2021
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