Full scale testing and development of wood-steel composite shear walls

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Full scale testing and development of wood-steel composite shear walls

Abstract

Modern building designs often feature open floor plans and large shear wall openings, which can be difficult to achieve using light-frame construction. This study explores a new type of shear wall, called the Wood-Steel Composite Shear Wall (WSCSW) that has high shear strength per unit length, good ductility, and a relatively narrow 2:1 aspect ratio. The WSCSW is constructed of a thin gauge steel web plate surrounded by a stiff wood-steel composite boundary frame. Under lateral load, the web plate buckles and then provides resistance through tension field action. The conceptual development of the system is presented for two full-scale prototype designs that have different base connection design philosophies. One design featured an elastic boundary condition to increase shear deformation of the web plate, while the other featured an inelastic boundary condition to minimize the amount of wall overstrength. Both prototypes were experimentally tested using a cyclic loading protocol and the test results were analyzed. It was found that the shear strength per unit length of the WSCSWs is 3 to 6 times larger than that of code-approved wood frame shear walls. Additionally, Equations are presented to predict the WSCSW shear strength and tension field angle within 10% of the experimental results. The investigation into the base connection designs determined than an elastic hold-down design is more desirable than an inelastic one to force greater shear deformation of the web plate.

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