Lateral performance of mortise-tenon jointed traditional timber frames with wood panel infill

Mortise-tenon jointed timber frames with wood panel infill are commonly used in traditional timber structures of East Asian countries as the primary shear resisting component. This paper presents the test results of three 1:2 scaled Chinese traditional mortise-tenon jointed beam-column frames, one as bare frame, one with partial panel infill accommodating a wide window opening, and the third with full panel infill, considering translational cyclic loading and constant vertical loading. The failure modes, stiffness and strength (including rate of degradation), and energy dissipation capacity of the frames were discussed to quantify the contribution of the panel infill. The results indicated that the frames behaved nonlinearly with good ductility (e.g., 9.72 of the bare frame). The frames with panel infill (with or without a window opening) exhibited higher load carrying capacity (up to 35.3% increase in the peak loads), secant stiffness and energy dissipation capacity. All three frames maintained at least 65% of the peak load of the primary cycles during the trailing cycles, indicating a good endurance against damage accumulation. It was also found that the lateral drift threshold for the panel infill to make a solid contribution to the frames is around 1/70 of the column height. A linear contribution can then be maintained up to 1/30 of the column height, covering the general drift limit for collapse prevention (1/50).