Abstract:
There has been a growing demand for multi-story timber structures globally because of many advantages that these buildings may bring in terms of aesthetic considerations, lower environmental footprint, speed of fabrication and suitability for earthquake-prone areas due to high strength to weight ratio. Nevertheless, height of these buildings is limited by a number of challenges such as brittle behaviour of timber and non-recoverable damage in connections under design basis earthquakes (DBE). In this study, a new damage avoidant self-centring lateral load-resisting system is introduced, composed of timber braces equipped with innovative Resilient Slip Friction Joints (RSFJs). By adopting this new bracing system, a desirable ductile, self-centring and high energy dissipation performance will be provided for the structure which not only satisfies the life-safety of the occupants but also minimises the damage during earthquakes and aftershocks for a quick reoccupancy and less business interruption. However, the main challenge for these systems, which can adversely affect such desirable performance, is the elastic buckling of the brace as a failure phenomenon to be avoided. Therefore, in this study a stability model has been developed and verified by the experimental testing.
