What is the principle of ancient tenon-mortise structure?

Mortise-and-tenon structure, the ancient buildings in China are mainly made of wood, brick and tile, and the wooden frame structure is the main structural mode, which is composed of columns, beams, purlins and other main components, and the joints between the components are equipped with tenons and tenons to form an elastic frame. Mortise and tenon are a very ingenious invention. This connection mode of members makes the traditional wood structure in China a special flexible structure that surpasses the bent, frame or rigid frame of contemporary buildings. It can not only bear a large load, but also allow some deformation, which can offset some seismic energy under earthquake load and reduce the seismic response of the structure.

Mortise and tenon is a concave-convex connection method used on two wooden components. The protruding part is called tenon (or tenon); The recessed part is called mortise (or mortise, tenon groove), and the tenon and mortise mesh to play a connecting role. This is the main structural mode of wooden appliances such as architecture and furniture in ancient China. The tenon-mortise structure is the combination of tenon and tenon, which is a clever combination of more and less wood blocks, high and low, long and short, and can effectively limit the distortion of wood blocks in all directions. The most basic tenon-mortise structure consists of two parts, in which the tenon of one part is inserted into the mortise of the other part to connect and fix the two parts. The part where the tenon extends into the mortise is called tenon, and the rest is called tenon shoulder.

The tenon-mortise structure is widely used in architecture and furniture, which embodies the close relationship between furniture and architecture. After tenon-mortise structure is applied to building construction, although each component is relatively thin, it can bear great pressure as a whole. This structure lies not in individual strength, but in mutual combination and support. This structure has become the basic model of later architecture and Chinese furniture.