Title: Ductility and behaviour factor of wood structural systems - Theoretical and experimental development of a high ductility wood-concrete shearwall system
Abstract: This dissertation focuses on the seismic behavior, ductility and dissipative capacity of modern timber buildings. A number of innovations in the field of timber structures are reported with special regard to the modeling techniques suitable for timber joints and to the characterization of the seismic behavior of modern timber systems.
A preliminary overview on the seismic-resistant timber building technology and on their evolution from the past to nowadays is reported in the introduction of this thesis work. A review of the state of art about the available seismic codes is also reported and the main lack and incongruence with the current constructive practice are pointed out.
The basic terms and concepts used in structural modeling and nonlinear analysis of timber structure are provided in the first part of this dissertation. The specific behavior of wood joints under cyclic actions and therefore under earthquakes is described with emphasis to the pinching effect and strength and stiffness degrading. A literature review on the main numerical models proposed to reproduce the hysteretic load-slip curve of single fasteners, joints and whole wooden elements is presented and discussed. A proposal for a new wood joint numerical model that can be easily implemented into a standard commercial Finite Element code is reported. The reliability of such new developed model to reproduce the fasteners hysteresis behavior is presented and critically discussed in comparison with experimental results.
The second part of this thesis work is based on the evidence that the growing spread of the use of timber structures has led to the development of numerous innovative construction systems but at the same time a lack of code provisions for seismic timber structure still remains, in particular concerning the ductility (or behavior) factor q to be used for the design of different timber systems. This part of dissertation analyzes the definitions of the q-factor given in the scientific literature and its relevance in the design of seismic resistant structures. The traditional methods for estimating the q-factor are investigated and an innovative procedure for expeditious q-factor estimation is presented. The theoretical aspects of this new analytical-experimental procedure are reported and the main advantages and limitations are critically discussed.
The seismic behavior of the Cross Laminated Timber structure is in deep studied in the third part of this dissertation. Such building system is largely spreading in the constructive practice but no design guidelines are provided in the seismic codes yet, especially for what concerning the definition of their sound behavior factor. Aim of this part of dissertation is to define the influence of some significant building characteristics, such as building technology, storeys number, slenderness, design criteria etc.., on the q-factor value. Such influences were studied referring to a numbers of building configuration and by means of nonlinear analyses carried out using specific hysteretic spring lamp-mass models. Based on such numerical assessment a proposal for an analytical formulation suitable to calculate the q-factor of CrossLam buildings has been developed and is presented. The validation and the applicability limits of the proposed formulation are presented and critically discussed.
The final part of the dissertation investigates from the structural efficacy of newly developed construction technology which uses an external concrete shelter made of precast R.C. slabs to improve the performance of standard platform-frame shear walls. The idea consists of external plating made of thin reinforced concrete slabs screwed to the wooden frame of the walls. The concrete slab acts as a diaphragm against the horizontal forces. The structural response of this shearwalls under monotonic and cyclic loading conditions has been assessed by means of experimental tests. The tests outcomes are presented and compared with those from code provisions. Fulfillment of the requirements given by current codes as regards the attribution to the Higher Ductility Class is also verified. The influence of concrete skin on the seismic response of the shearwalls is also evaluated by means of numerical analysis and the assured “q” ductility factor is estimated.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 4
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