| dc.description.abstract | Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) is an innovative building material that has become increasingly popular in mid-rise building construction for its quick assembly capability, its environmental friendliness, and its beneficial strength-to-weight ratio. Currently, CLT balloon style construction is not allowed in areas of high seismicity. The goal of this research was to study the behavior of CLT balloon-style construction connections, characterize their behavior through fitting the cyclic data to hysteretic models, doing further investigation with finite element analysis, and to understand the biaxial response of CLT shear walls. Ten different connection configurations were tested in this study – six panel-to-panel connections and four wall-to-floor connections. The experimental data was used to calibrate two different connector hysteretic models. In-depth finite element analysis was completed on these configurations and the response was compared to the experimental data. Lastly, a full-scale CLT shear wall test was done with biaxial loading protocol to characterize connection and system response to loading in two directions.
The experimental test program provided insight into the benefits of using angled fasteners, namely that they provided good stiffness and good ductility, and an initial look at the behavior of wall-to-floor configurations. The numerical modeling that was completed demonstrated that the Pinching4 hysteretic model is preferable to the CUREE-SAWS model for the connections that were tested. The finite element models that were developed were validated and their assumptions can be used for parameter studies and further investigation into CLT behavior. Finally, the biaxial wall test provided good insight into the behavior of CLT shear walls, demonstrating that sliding-rocking behavior is beneficial to overall system behavior even when loaded in two directions. | en |
