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Design of Controlled Rocking Heavy Timber Walls For Low-To-Moderate Seismic Hazard Regions / Controlled Rocking Heavy Timber Walls

The controlled rocking heavy timber wall (CRHTW) is a high-performance structural solution that was first developed in New Zealand, mainly considering Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), to resist high seismic loads without sustaining structural damage. The wall responds in bending and shear to small lateral loads, and it rocks on its foundation in response to large seismic loads. In previous studies, rocking has been controlled by both energy dissipation elements and post-tensioning, and the latter returns the wall to its original position after a seismic event. The controlled rocking response avoids the need for structural repair after an earthquake, allowing for more rapid return to occupancy than in conventional structures.
Whereas controlled rocking walls with supplemental energy dissipation have been studied before using LVL, this thesis proposes an adapted CRHTW in which the design and construction cost and complexity are reduced for low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions by removing supplemental energy dissipation and using cross-laminated timber (CLT) because of its positive economic and environmental potential in the North American market. Moreover, whereas previous research has focussed on direct displacement-based design procedures for CRHTWs, with limited consideration of force-based design parameters, this thesis focusses on force-based design procedures that are more common in practice. A design and analysis process is outlined for the adapted CRHTW, based on a similar methodology for controlled rocking steel braced frames. The design process includes a new proposal to minimize the design forces while still controlling peak drifts, and it also includes a new proposal for predicting the influence of the higher modes by referring to previous research on the capacity design of controlled rocking steel braced frames. Also, a numerical model is outlined, including both a baseline version and a lower-bound model based on comparison to experimental data. The numerical model is used for non-linear time-history analysis of a prototype design, confirming the expected performance of the adapted CRHTW, and the model is also used for incremental dynamic analyses of three-, six-, and nine-storey prototypes, which show a low probability of collapse. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / The controlled rocking heavy timber wall (CRHTW) is a high-performance structural solution that was developed to resist high seismic loads without sustaining structural damage. The wall responds in bending and shear to small lateral loads, and it rocks on its foundation in response to large seismic loads. In previous studies, rocking has been controlled by both energy dissipation elements and post-tensioning; the latter returns the wall to its original position after a seismic event. This controlled rocking behaviour mitigates structural damage and costly repairs.
This thesis explores the value of an adapted CRHTW in which the design and construction costs and complexity are reduced for low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions by using post-tensioning but no supplemental energy dissipation. A design and analysis process is outlined; numerical analysis confirms the expected performance of the adapted CRHTW; and the system is shown to have a low probability of collapse.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/20490
Date January 2016
CreatorsKovacs, Michael A.
ContributorsWiebe, Lydell Andree, Civil Engineering
Source SetsMcMaster University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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