Seismic performance evaluations and design of timber-steel hybrid shear wall systems for mid-rise light timber framed buildings

Abstract

This project presents seismic performance evaluations and design of a type of timber-steel hybrid shear wall system consisting of steel moment frames infilled with light timber framed shear walls. This hybrid system can be easily incorporated into multi-storey light timber framed (LTF) buildings and the construction materials are readily available in New Zealand. A finite element (FE) model of the hybrid wall system was developed with its critical input parameters calibrated by a connection test database of nailed plywood-timber connections and bolted and screwed timber-steel interface connections. The FE hybrid wall model was validated against existing hybrid wall testing data. The validated model was used to run a parametric study to establish a hysteresis database of the hybrid walls with various design configurations in terms of steel member sizes, nail sizes, and plywood thickness. Aligned with another project funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, a shake table test on a 4-storey 2/3 scale hybrid structure was conducted to study its dynamic behavior under strong ground shakings including the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. The experimental results showed excellent seismic performance of the timber-steel hybrid structure. Finally, a design example of the hybrid wall systems in a 6-storey LTF building was presented following the displacement-based seismic design flowchart.