Lateral loading performance of end narrow panel reinforced light wood frame shear walls

PurposeThe sheathing panels of traditional light wood frame shear walls mainly use oriented strand board (OSB) panels, and the damage of the traditional walls is mainly caused by the tear failure at the bottom corner of the OSB panel. In order to improve the lateral performance of the traditional light wood frame shear wall, a new type of end narrow panels reinforced light wood frame shear wall is proposed.Design/methodology/approachThe monotonic loading tests and finite element analysis of nine groups of walls, with different types of end narrow panel, types of fasteners used on the end narrow panels and the end narrow panels edge fastener spacing, are carried out. The effects of different characters on lateral performance of light wood frame shear walls are reported and discussed.FindingsThe failure modes of the wall reinforced by parallel strand bamboo narrow panels with 150 mm edge nails spacing are similar to the traditional wall. Conversely, the failure modes of other groups of walls reinforced by end narrow panels are the tears of the bottom narrow panel or the bottom beam. The end narrow panel reinforced light wood frame shear wall can make full use of the material property of sheathing panels. Compared with the lateral performance of traditional walls, the new-type end narrow panels reinforced walls have better lateral performance.Originality/valueA new type of end narrow panels reinforced light wood frame shear wall is proposed, which can enhance the lateral performance of the traditional light wood frame shear wall. The new-type walls have advantages of convenient operation, manufacture cost saving and important value of engineering application.

Racking performance of poplar laminated veneer lumber frames and frame-shear hybrid walls

This study examined the racking performance of poplar laminated veneer lumber (LVL) frames using bolted steel filling plates to connect beam-column joints, poplar LVL frames using the embedment bars to connect beam-column joints, and frame-shear hybrid walls made of poplar LVL studs and oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing panels. A new design load spreader beam was used on the side of the top of a specimen to apply monotonic and cyclic loadings. It was found that the lateral force resistance, stiffness, and ultimate loads of poplar LVL pure frames with bolted steel filling plate connections and closed rod connections were much lower than those of the poplar LVL frame-shear wall hybrid structure. The highest initial stiffness of the poplar LVL hybrid frame-shear wall was 1.77 kN/mm, which was 24% and 22% lower than that of the conventional shear wall made with spruce-pine-fir studs and OSB or plywood sheathing panels, respectively. The poplar LVL frame-shear wall hybrid structure showed lower degradation in stiffness than the conventional shear wall. The hybrid frame-shear wall structures made of poplar LVL could meet the requirements of Chinese standard; however, diagonal braces were required in use of poplar LVL pure frames.