Database-assisted design methodology to predict wind-induced structural behavior of a light-framed wood building

Abstract

This study investigates the applicability of the database-assisted design (DAD) methodology to predict structural reactions in a light-framed wood structure subjected to fluctuating wind pressures. Structural influence functions were determined on a 1/3-scale light-frame wood structure, which was then subjected to a wind flow, while the surface pressures and structural reactions at roof-to-wall and wall-to-foundation connections were simultaneously recorded. There was a good agreement between the DAD-predicted structural reactions and experimentally measured reactions, confirming that the DAD method is suitable for predicting the structural reactions in light-frame wood buildings. Subsequently structural reaction time histories at several connections within the building were generated using a 1:50 scale wind tunnel model of the structure and the peak structural reactions determined using the DAD method and previously obtained influence functions. When the DAD-estimated reactions were compared with reactions predicted by the ASCE 7-05 main wind force resisting system (MWFRS) method, they showed the ASCE 7 reactions were highly non-conservative(i.e. smaller than the DAD method predictions), by as much as 39% at the gable end truss. The components and cladding method showed reasonable agreement with the DAD method for the gable end and first interior truss reactions but it too underestimated the reaction loads at the second and third interior trusses by 30% and 12% respectively.