Experimental Study on Seismic Performance of Chinese Traditional Mortise and Tenon Joints with Different Lengths that Tenons Pull out of Mortise

This paper presents the results of a study on seismic performance of mortise-tenon joints with different lengths that tenons pull out of joints. Three 1:3.52 scaled mortise-tenon joint specimens were fabricated: one with through-tenon joints, one with half-tenon joints, and one with dovetail joints. Seismic data of the joints, such as hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, stiffness degradation rules, and energy dissipation capacity curves, were obtained by low-cycle reversed loading test. The influence of lengths that tenons pull out of joints on the mortise-tenon joints was analyzed. The seismic performance of three types of mortise-tenon joints was compared. The results showed that all hysteretic loops are z shaped. The seismic performance of the through joint was the best among three types of mortise tenon joint. The length that the tenon pulls out of the joint significantly affected the performance of the mortise and tenon joints.