Influence of cyclic test protocols on performance of wood-based shear walls

Abstract

This paper compares the test results obtained from three cyclic test protocols in a series of studies on lateral resistance of wood-based shear walls built with oriented strand board panels. When the shear walls were subjected to a long sequence of cycle groups, the failure mode was dominated by low cycle fatigue failure of nail connectors which was rarely observed under seismic conditions. Alternate cyclic loading protocols with large amplitude but short sequence allowed shear walls to avoid this type of nail failure. The results also indicate that under the high amplitude short sequence cyclic test protocol, a higher racking resistance of the shear wall can be achieved which approaches the peak loads from monotonic tests.Key words: wood shear wall, oriented strand board, oversized panel, cyclic lateral loading, earthquake, connector failure mode, energy dissipation.