Stochastic Simulation of Wood Load-Sharing Systems

A generalized procedure was developed to predict the effect of material variability on the variability of system performance when the material properties of the system component members are correlated. This procedure utilized Monte Carlo simulations to predict the load-carrying capacity (strength behavior) of parallel-member wood load-sharing systems from a linear-elastic mathematical model also developed in this study. The simulated strength behavior obtained using this procedure was compared to the strength behavior of actual wood load-sharing systems tested to failure. This simulation technique was shown to be an extremely good predictor of system variability. Although this procedure was developed for specific application to the prediction of wood-joist floor behavior, it can easily be applied to any area of structures research in which the members exhibit correlated properties.