Dynamic and long-term performance of wood friction connectors for timber shear walls

This paper presents the results of shake table tests and periodical friction tests to evaluate the dynamic and longterm performance of a novel connector using a wood friction (friction-based connectors). The friction-based connectors are a quite simple system in which the wood is bolted transversely to generate friction force. The shake table tests showed that the type of hysteresis loop of the wall with the friction-based connectors exhibited a bilinear, and significantly reduced the maximum response displacement even when the conventional walls were combined. In addition, more than 60% of the total energy was absorbed by the wall with friction-based connectors, even the load bearing ratio of the wall was about 30%. The periodical friction tests of the connectors and the wall with the friction-based connectors indicated that the friction forces were mostly linked to the relaxation behavior of wood, and although the friction forces were significantly affected by humidity fluctuations, longterm friction forces were expected to be maintained.

Automated summary

This paper presents the results of shake table tests and periodical friction tests to evaluate the dynamic and longterm performance of a novel connector using a wood friction. The tests showed that the friction-based connectors significantly reduced the maximum response displacement and absorbed more than 60% of the total energy, even with a load bearing ratio of only about 30%. The results also indicated that the friction forces were mostly linked to wood relaxation behavior and longterm friction forces were expected to be maintained despite humidity fluctuations.