Shake Table Testing and Modeling of New Zealand Light-Frame Wood Buildings
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 12
Abstract
The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence highlighted the vulnerability of New Zealand light-frame wood buildings that are the predominant typology in residential construction. While life-safety performance was excellent, many buildings experienced widespread cracking of internal wall linings that resulted in costly repairs and disruption. Despite the widespread use of light-frame wood construction in New Zealand, no known shake table tests have been documented for this construction typology. Additionally, New Zealand light-frame wood building performance cannot simply be inferred from international testing because New Zealand adopts a different design philosophy from those of the US and Canada by relying on gypsum sheathing as the primary lateral resisting element. To further investigate New Zealand light-frame wood building performance, this paper discusses shake table testing of a light-frame wood building specimen, constructed on the University of Canterbury unidirectional shake table using modern New Zealand design and construction approaches. The observed damages during the tests were consistent with those observed in similarly built structures that were investigated after the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence. This paper also presents a modeling approach using the state-of-the-art software Timber3D, which was verified by simulating the shake table specimen and comparing the observed and predicted dynamic response from the test specimen and model, respectively. The Timber3D modeling approach included analysis and parameterization of screw-slip data using the Evolutionary Parameter Hysteretic Model, formulation of two-dimensional wall component models, and nonlinear time history analysis of a three-dimensional model of the shake table specimen. The model was shown to reasonably predict the displacement response of the shake table specimen and the strength degradation from cracking damage through repeated earthquakes. The modeling approach described is intended to further the development of residential building models toward the performance-based seismic design of light-frame wood buildings in New Zealand.
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Data Availability Statement
The gypsum screw-slip testing data used during the study is proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions to maintain the anonymity of the gypsum manufacturers that facilitated the testing. Permission can be facilitated by contacting the corresponding author. The Timber3D models that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. All other necessary data to reproduce the research results are available in the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Pang for providing a copy of the Timber3D software, which proved to be an invaluable addition to the research. This project was partially supported by QuakeCoRE, which is funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission. This is QuakeCoRE Publication No. 0863.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 12 • December 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 17, 2023
Accepted: Jul 6, 2023
Published online: Sep 20, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 20, 2024
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