High performance light timber shear walls and dissipative anchors for damage limitation of wooden buildings in seismic areas

This contribution describes the development and the experimental investigation of innovative enhanced light weight timber frame buildings, which can be a very efficient structural solution for wooden multistory buildings. This development concepts comprise high-performance timber frame walls, also named "power-walls" with variable arrangement of sheathing planes and dissipative anchorings at the base of the timber buildings, which can limit damages of the timber structure and can be replaced after a significant earthquake. In order to testify the improved performance of the developed elements in the context of a real building, a full scale two storey building core was designed, erected (in the laboratory) and tested experimentally for its seismic performance. The results of the tests are presented. Observations during the test also reveal some aspects of the design and detailing which need consideration in the application of the timber walls in the context of the complete building.