Low‐Rise Timber Buildings Subjected to Seismic, Wind, and Snow Loads
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 110, Issue 4
Abstract
Wood‐frame buildings have generally performed well when subjected to extreme wind, seismic, or snow loads. Some of this performance is attributed to the material characteristics of the wood itself and some to the redundance in structural assembly. Failures, however, have occurred. Not all damage can be eliminated, but much could be avoided or minimized based on past observations. The objective of this paper is to look at past common failures and their causes. A main observation is that marginally engineered or nonengineered structures performed worse than engineered structures. Connection or anchorage failures between major components were commonplace. Engineered details of joints are available. The primary conclusion is that, a technology transfer effort is required to incorporate engineered features in more wood‐frame buildings to reduce many of the commonly observed failures in natural disasters.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
American Plywood Association, “San Fernando Earthquake of February 9, 1971,” Rep. to APA, Tacoma, Wash., June, 1971.
2.
American Plywood Association, “Plywood Diaphragm Construction,” APA, Tacoma, Wash., 1978.
3.
Anderson, L. O., and Liska, J. A., “Wood Structure Performance in an Earthquake,” USDA For. Serv. Res. Pap. FPL 16, For. Prod. Lab., Madison, Wisc., 1964.
4.
Anderson, L. O., and Smith, W. R., “Houses Can Resist Hurricanes,” USDA For. Serv. Res. Pap. FPL 33, For. Prod. Lab., Madison, Wisc., 1965.
5.
Applied Technology Council, “A Methodology for Seismic Design and Construction of Single‐Family Dwellings,” Contract Rep. to U.S. Dep. Housing and Urban Dev., Washington, D.C., 1976.
6.
Blume, J. A., and Scholl, R. E., “Damaging Response of Low‐Rise Buildings,” 6th World Conf. on Earthquake Eng., New Delhi, 1977.
7.
Faherty, K. F., “Failure of Wood Roof Systems Under Snow Load,” Pres. at ASCE Annual Meet., Portland, Oreg., Apr. 14–18, 1980.
8.
Fuller, G. R., “Improved Earthquake Resistive Design and Construction of Single‐Family Residential Dwellings,” Proc. 7th Joint Panel Conf. of the U.S.‐Japan Coop. Program in Natl. Res., U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Bur. Stand., Spec. Publ. 470, Washington, D.C., 1977.
9.
Housner, G. W., “Engineering Features of the San Fernando Earthquake, Februaiy 9, 1971,” Calif. Inst., Technol., Earthquake Eng. Res. Lab. Rep. No. 71‐02, 1971.
10.
Keenan, F. J., “The Earthquake Resistance of Timber Construction,” Proc. Int. Conf. on Eng. for Prot. from Natl. Disasters, Asian Inst. Technol., Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 7–9, 1980.
11.
Lew, H. S., Leyendecker, E. V., and Dikkers, R. D., “Engineering Aspects of the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake,” U.S. Dep. Commer., Bldg. Sci. Ser. 40, Natl. Bur. Stand., Washington, D.C., 1971.
12.
Liska, J. A., and Bohannan, B., “Performance of Wood Construction in Disaster Areas,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 99, No. ST12, Dec., 1973, pp. 2345–2354.
13.
Marshall, R. D., “Engineering Aspects of Cyclone Tracy, Darwin, Australia, 1974,” U.S. Dep. Commer., Bldg. Sci. Ser. 86, Natl. Bur. Stand., Washington, D.C., 1976.
14.
McClure, F., “Performance of Single Family Dwellings in the San Fernando Earthquake of February 9, 1971,” Rep. for NOAA and HUD, Washington, D.C., 1973.
15.
McCrea, J. D., “Tornado Wind Damage to Buildings Observed After the Sarnia Tornado of May 21, 1953,” Div. Bldg. Res. Rep. No. 111, Natl. Res. Counc, Ottawa, Canada, Feb., 1957.
16.
Mehta, K. C., McDonald, J. R., Marshall, R. D., Abemethy, J. J., and Boggs, D., “The Kalamazoo Tornado of May 13, 1980,” Rep. prepared for Natl. Res. Counc, Publ. by National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1981.
17.
Mehta, K. C., Minor, J. E., McDonald, J. R., Manning, B. R., Abemethy, J. J., and Koehler, U. F., “Engineering Aspects of the Tornadoes of April 3–4, 1974,” Rep. to Natl. Res. Counc., Publ. by National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1975.
18.
Minor, J. E., “Tornado Technology and Professional Practice,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 108, No. ST11, Nov., 1982, pp. 2411–2422.
19.
Morrison, C. F., Schriever, W. R., and Kennedy, D. E., “The Collapse of the Listowel Arena,” Can. Consult. Eng., Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 1960, pp. 36–47.
20.
NAHB Research Foundation, Inc., “Truss‐Framed Construction,” NAHB Res. Fdn., Inc., Rockville, Md., 1982.
21.
Peterson, R. E. (Editor), “Proceedings on Tornadoes—Assessment of Knowledge and Implications for Man,” June 22–24, Texas Tech. Univ., Lubbock, Tex., 1976.
22.
Sherman, Z., “Residential Buildings Engineered to Resist Tornadoes,” Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vol. 99, No. ST4, 1973, pp. 701–714.
23.
Smith, W. R., “Building Homes to Withstand Hurricane Damage,” For. Prod. J., Vol. 11, No. 4, 1961, pp. 176–177.
24.
U.S. Department of Commerce, “A Study of Earthquake Losses in the Los Angeles, Calif., Area,” Rep. by NOAA for HUD Fed. Disaster Assist. Admn., Washington, D.C., 1973.
25.
Wiggins, J. H., “National Losses and Mitigation Effects for Air, Earth, and Waterborne Natural Hazards, Publ.,” in Designing to Survive Severe Hazards, Proc. Conf. at IITRI, Nov. 1–3, 1977, pp. 47–98.
26.
Zornig, H. F., and Sherwood, G. E., “Wood Structures Survive Hurricane Camille's Winds,” USDA For. Serv. Res. Pap. FPL 123, For. Prod. Lab., Madison, Wisc., Oct., 1969.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 110 • Issue 4 • April 1984
Pages: 744 - 753
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 ASCE.
History
Published online: Apr 1, 1984
Published in print: Apr 1984
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.