Experimental and numerical investigation on collapse performance of wooden drum-towers in southwest China.

• The wooden drum-tower exhibits poor ductility, and the premature withdrawal of tenon-mortise joints in components adjacent to the failure zone is a triggering factor for the collapse of the structure. • After component failure, the structure undergoes internal force redistribution. The beam in the failure zone is forced to bear tension, bending, and torsion simultaneously, leading to the failure of the tenon-mortise joints. At the moment of mortise-tenon joints failure, the columns within the failure zone gradually tilt under the influence of gravity, eventually leading to progressive collapse. • The failure of mortise-tenon joints in the failure zone is characterized by compression deformation of the tenon in the transverse direction and splitting of the mortise edges. Non-collapsed structure tilts as a whole, with slight detachment of tenon heads and uplift of column bases. The drum-tower belongs to the category of towering structures, and the overall collapse is a common accident in such structures. In order to study the anti-collapse performance of drum-towers, this research used the bottom floor of a wooden drum-tower in the southwest China as a prototype, designing and producing a 1/3 scale structural model. The sudden-column-removal (SCR) method was employed to simulate the structural collapse process, observe collapse characteristics, and analyze the dynamic response of the structure. A finite element model was established, and on the basis of verifying its accuracy, a parameter expansion analysis was conducted. The study indicates that the ductility of wooden drum-towers is relatively poor, and the pulling out of mortise- tenon joints in adjacent components in the failure area is a primary factor for the progressive collapse of the structure. Due to the redistribution of internal forces, the load-bearing status of beams in the failure area changes, experiencing tension, bending moment, and torsion simultaneously, leading to the pulling out, compression, and splitting of mortise-tenon joints. After the failure of these joints, the structure undergoes progressive collapse under the influence of gravity. The dimensions of mortise-tenon joints and the friction coefficient have a significant impact on the anti-collapse performance of the structure. Larger dimensions and friction coefficients result in slower structural damage and more stable structural response. Among these factors, increasing the depth of mortise-tenon joints has the most significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]