Experimental Evaluation of Load Paths in Light-Frame Wood Structure
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
Despite much experience that low-rise wood buildings are vulnerable to damage by extreme wind events, few such structures have been tested in fullsize to understand how they respond to wind loads as a whole system. This paper presents a study that measured internal force flows throughout the framing of a typical North American single-story structure with platform construction. Applied forces were concentrated horizontal loads normal to walls and patches of gravity loads on the sloped roof. Two series of load cells were embedded into the system, between the roof trusses and supporting walls and between the floor platform and the foundation. It was observed that even localized external forces have effects that propagate through the entire system. For instance, horizontal loads applied near eave level or to the roof were reacted at the top of the foundation around the entire wall perimeter of the building footprint, both parallel and transverse to the applied loading. For vertical loads, measurements showed that systemic effects dominate the response. Observed three-dimensional behavior stems from the relatively stiff interconnection of roof, wall, and floor platform substructures.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Canadian Wood Council, Ottawa, Ontario; Forintek Canada Corp. Eastern Division, Sainte Foy, Québec; the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, London, Ontario; and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaNSERC, Ottawa, Ontario. In-kind contributions from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne, are also appreciated, as is technical support by staff of the University of New Brunswick, Tweeddale Centre, in Fredericton.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • February 2012
Pages: 258 - 265
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 26, 2010
Accepted: May 20, 2011
Published online: Jan 17, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012
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