Connections in wood have been investigated and advanced ever since the ground-breaking work of Johansen in the early nineteenth century. Nevertheless, not much investigation has been undertaken on the existence of load-displacement path dependency in a sheathing-to-framing connection. Herein, a sheathing-to-framing connection is investigated in relation to displacement path dependency. This work uses 3D Finite Element beam-on-foundation models of an Oriented Strand Board (OSB/2) sheathing nailed to a C24 wood framing, to study possible strategies to numerically simulate the displacement path dependency. The models are used to study if non-linear elastic or elastic-plastic embedment properties of an annular-ringed shank nail in the wood-based materials bring about the path dependency using Connector elements in combination with different material models in the FE software Abaqus. Numerical results are compared with corresponding experimental test results of the connection together with the Eurocode 5 approach. The outcome of the numerical study both; confirms the existence of displacement path dependency and shows that this property in the connection can be described by plasticity properties in nail, sheathing material and the wood framing.

This doctoral thesis addresses questions of how wind loads acting on multistoreytimber buildings can be dealt with by structural design of such buildings.The conventional use of sheathing either nailed or screwed to a timberframework is considered, together with other stabilizing structures such ascross-laminated timber panels.The finite element method was employed in simulating the structuralbehaviour of stabilizing wall units. A series of studies was carried out of walls inwhich the sheathing was nailed to a timber frame. Different structural levelswere studied starting with modelling the performance of single sheathing-toframingconnections, to the use of models for studying the overall structuralbehaviour of walls. The results of calculations using models for simulation ofwalls subjected to different loading agree reasonably well with experimentalresults. The structural properties of the connections between the sheathing andthe frame, as well as of the connections between the members of the frame,were shown to have a substantial effect on the simulated behaviour of shearwall units. Both these types of connections were studied and described inappended papers.Regarding cross-laminated timber wall panels, it was concluded that walls witha high level of both stiffness and strength can be produced by the use of suchpanels, and also that the connections between the solid wall panels can bedesigned in such a way that the shear forces involved are transmitted from onepanel to the next in an efficient manner.Other topics in the thesis include the properties of connections between shearwalls and the rest of the building. Typically high tension forces occur at specificpoints in a timber structure. These forces need to be transmitted downwards inthe structure, ultimately connecting them to the substrate. A lap-joint that maybe used for this purpose has been studied using generalized Volkersen theory.Finally the maximum capacity of a conventional rail to substrate connection hasbeen examined using linear and nonlinear fracture mechanics.