Stiffness and energy degradation of wood frame shear walls

Abstract

Tests have been conducted on wood frame shear walls to characterize the degradation of stiffness and energy dissipation that occurs under cyclic loading. A total of eight walls were tested, four sheathed in plywood and four sheathed in oriented-strand board. The tests were conducted in accordance with a draft test procedure recently proposed by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California, which is based on a sequential phased displacement command input. The results indicate that effective stiffness decreases linearly with continued cycling at the same displacement and decreases with increasing amplitudes of displacement. Furthermore, the energy dissipation capacity of the wall decreases by 15-20% with the first cycle at a given amplitude, then decreases slightly with continued cycling at the same amplitude. The changes in effective stiffness and energy dissipation are generally independent of the type of sheathing for loads less than the wall ultimate, suggesting that the wall performance under cyclic loading is influenced more by the fastener and frame behavior. The results presented should be useful for design and for verifying hysteretic models of the shear wall behavior.Key words: cyclic, dynamic, energy dissipation, experimental, seismic, shear wall, stiffness, testing, timber, wood frame.