ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR MORTISE-TENON END WOODEN BEAM SUBJECTED TO UNIFORM LOAD

In order to solve the stress distribution of mortise-tenon end wooden beams subjected to uniform loads in traditional Chinese architecture, the analytical solution for a simply supported wooden beam, hinged wooden beam and fixed-end wooden beam were first developed by employing the half-inverse method. Based on the above results, the stress distribution for mortise-tenon end wooden beams was derived by introducing two parameters characterizing the semi-rigid nature of the joints. These two parameters were analyzed later using a simple example to assess their influence on the distribution of bending stress within the beam. The stress distribution of mortise-tenon end beams was also compared with beams with other boundary conditions. Results show that the shear stress within the wooden beam, especially for beam in mortise-tenon end, should not be neglected. Lastly, it was pointed out that the stiffness of the mortise-tenon joint changes with increasing load and a method for determining semi-rigid parameters under this condition was given as well.