Enhancing the seismic performance of historic timber buildings in Asia by applying super-elastic alloy to a Chinese complex bracket system

Historic timber structures that are widely distributed in East Asia are suffering from the earthquakes. This research is aiming to develop a technique to enhance the seismic performance of historic timber buildings with Dou-Gon system. High strength steel bars and super-elastic alloy bars have been used instead of the conventional wood peg connection to connect the base Dou and the column. Pushover tests have been done under all loading conditions. The energy dissipation capacity and the ultimate strength of the base Dou-Gon system have been increased by this simple technique. Base Dou-Gon system with super-elastic alloy bar connection shows a better anti-seismic performance due to its constant damping behaviour and longer fatigue life. Moreover, pre-strain of the super-elastic alloy bar can give a better damping behaviour to the base Dou system.