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SUMMARY
Multi-storey buildings made of cross-laminated timber panels (X-lam) are becoming a stronger and econom-
ically valid alternative in Europe compared with traditional masonry or concrete buildings. During the
design process of these multi-storey buildings, also their earthquake behaviour has to be addressed,
especially in seismic-prone areas such as Italy. However, limited knowledge on the seismic performance
is available for this innovative massive timber product.
On the basis of extensive testing series comprising monotonic and reversed cyclic tests on X-lam panels, a
pseudodynamic test on a one-storey X-lam specimen and 1D shaking table tests on a full-scale three-storey
specimen, a full-scale seven-storey building was designed according to the European seismic standard
Eurocode 8 and subjected to earthquake loading on a 3D shaking table. The building was designed with a
preliminary action reduction factor of three that had been derived from the experimental results on the
three-storey building.
The outcomes of this comprehensive research project called ‘SOFIE – Sistema Costruttivo Fiemme’
proved the suitability of multi-storey X-lam structures for earthquake-prone regions. The buildings demon-
strated self-centring capabilities and high stiffness combined with sufficient ductility to avoid brittle failures.
The tests provided useful information for the seismic design with force-based methods as defined in
Eurocode 8, that is, a preliminary experimentally based action reduction factor of three was confirmed.
Valid, ductile joint assemblies were developed, and their importance for the energy dissipation in buildings
with rigid X-lam panels became evident. The seven-storey building showed relatively high accelerations in
the upper storeys, which could lead to secondary damage and which have to be addressed in future research.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS: multi-storey timber buildings; cross-laminated timber; seismic performance; shaking table tests;
full-scale tests; Eurocode 8
1. INTRODUCTION
Timber has an excellent weight–strength ratio in comparison with other common construction materials
such as masonry or concrete. Furthermore, ductility of timber structures can be obtained through a proper
design of the joints with mechanical fasteners (e.g. [1]). This underlines the suitability of timber for use in
*Correspondence to: Carmen Sandhaas, Institute for Timber Structures and Building Construction, Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology.
†
E-mail: sandhaas@kit.edu
seismic prone regions. Visual inspections and evaluations after seismic events confirmed that timber
buildings behaved very well during severe earthquakes [2, 3].
Several research have already been undertaken to determine the seismic behaviour of timber
buildings, mostly in Japan, Canada and the USA (e.g. [4–9]). Mainly, these research projects deal
with modern woodframe buildings or post and beam structures, as they represent about 50–90%
of the residential buildings in these three countries. A vast literature exists on the racking
behaviour of shear walls (e.g. [8]) and pseudodynamic tests (e.g. [9]). Full-scale 3D shaking
table tests on light-frame wood buildings have also been carried out [5, 6]. The tests on the
18.6 12.4 m six-storey woodframe building [5] and the same building with a steel moment
frame on the ground floor [6] served to verify the direct displacement design approach [10]
developed for woodframe buildings. The six-storey building with a steel moment frame on the
ground floor was subjected to two-scaled Canoga Park records of the 1994 Northridge earthquake
before the steel frame was locked to test only the six-storey woodframe structure that was
subjected to three-scaled Canoga Park records with a maximum level 3 of intensity representing
2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The authors conclude that steel moment frame
structures prove to be suitable for commercial space with large openings on the ground floor of
multi-storey woodframe buildings and that the woodframe structure itself performed well with
only non-structural damage. Further conclusions state that the design according to the direct
displacement design approach seemed to result in enhanced seismic behaviour of woodframe
structures in comparison with force-based methods.
However, construction methods with innovative materials such as cross-laminated (X-lam) massive
timber panels have not been fully covered yet. Quasi-static reversed cyclic tests [11–14], cyclic tests on
connections [15] and preliminary shaking table tests [16] were carried out. Their findings underlined
the potential of X-lam constructions as enough system ductility can be obtained without showing
brittle failures. Understanding the seismic behaviour of X-lam buildings is a prerequisite to its use in
earthquake-prone countries such as Italy. The lack of comprehensive research on X-lam buildings
resulted in the research project Sistema Costruttivo Fiemme (SOFIE). The SOFIE project covered
investigations in material behaviour, building physics, fire, durability and earthquake behaviour
including quasi-static reversed cyclic tests on wall panels, pseudodynamic tests and full-scale
shaking table tests of a three-storey building and a seven-storey building.
The SOFIE project was a cooperative research project supported by Trento Province, Italy,
and coordinated and conducted by CNR-IVALSA (Trees and Timber Institute – Italian National
Research Council). The shaking table tests of the project were carried out together with Japanese
partners from Shizuoka University, Building Research Institute and the National Institute for Earth
Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED). The tests on the seven-storey building were carried out on
NIED’s 3D 20 15 m shaking table in Miki close to Kobe. It was the first time that a full-scale
seven-storey building, of whatever material, has been tested on a 3D shaking table.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
The series of monotonic and cyclic tests on different wall panel layouts allowed optimising standard
joinery of X-lam buildings by using commercially available hold-downs, steel angles, screws and
nails [17, 18]. The main scope during the optimisation process was to obtain ductile hysteretic
behaviour without brittle failure modes. As the hold-downs used for the three-storey building were
not suitable for high slender buildings that develop higher uplift forces, special high-strength
IVALSA hold-downs have been developed. Figure 1 shows the test rig with an inserted specimen
(pan33a) and the location of hold-downs (fastened with 6 mm lag screws, see Appendix A) and
steel angles. Figure 2 shows typical results in terms of upper horizontal displacement (Figure 2(a))
and uplift versus loading (Figure 2(b)). A vertical load of 18.5 kN/m was applied during the
monotonic test, and the final ductile failure at the end of test consisted in combined embedment
of the wood and development of plastic hinges in the lag screws (test was terminated at 80 mm
horizontal displacement).
Figure 1. Test rig for monotonic and cyclic tests at CNR-IVALSA; specimen pan33a is shown.
250 250
200 200
Load [kN]
Load [kN]
150 150
100 100
50 50
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 10 20 30 40 50
Horizontal displacement [mm] Uplift [mm]
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Test result of monotonic test on pan33a using IVALSA hold-down, see Figure 1. (a) Graph of horizontal
load versus horizontal displacement on top of panel; (b) graph of hold-down load versus hold-down uplift.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
Therefore, a purely elastic design was carried out without considering overstrength or any energy-
dissipating mechanisms. According to [23], an initial behaviour factor q can finally be determined
by Equation (1):
PGAnear-collapse
q¼ (1)
PGAdesign
2.255
2.255
Direction of
Shaking
NORTH WALL ELEVATION SOUTH WALL ELEVATION EAST AND WEST WALL ELEVATION
10.0
6.935
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
Table I. Three storeys, results for configuration C and earthquakes with PGA ⩾ 0.5 g.
Record PGAtest [g] Restoring intervention (before the test) Observed damage (after the test)
Nocera Umbra 0.50 Tightening of bolts None
El Centro 0.50 Tightening of bolts; replacing of screws None
in in-plane wall-to-wall joints
JMA Kobe 0.50 Idem None
JMA Kobe 0.80 Idem Slight deformation of screws
in in-plane wall-to-wall joints
JMA Kobe 0.50 Idem None
JMA Kobe 0.50 Tightening of bolts None
JMA Kobe 0.80 Replacing of hold-downs; tightening Slight deformation of screws
of bolts; replacing of screws in in-plane in in-plane wall-to-wall joints
wall-to-wall joints
Nocera Umbra 1.20 Tightening of bolts; replacing of screws Hold-down failure; deformation of
in in-plane wall-to-wall joints screws in in-plane wall-to-wall joints
PGA, peak ground acceleration; JMA, Japan Meteorological Agency.
The design peak ground acceleration was PGAdesign = 0.35 g. The near-collapse criterion was met at
a peak ground acceleration of PGAnear-collapse = 1.20 g. According to Equation (1), an initial behaviour
factor can be determined to
PGAnear-collapse 1:20
q¼ ¼ ¼ 3:4 (2)
PGAdesign 0:35
A behaviour factor of q = 3 is a good indication of the sufficient ductility and energy dissipation
capacity of X-lam buildings. Furthermore, the three-storey building did not collapse and remained
standing without permanent deformations. To illustrate the good lateral behaviour of X-lam wall
elements, values for lateral load-carrying capacity and stiffness for X-lam and platform frame walls
can be compared. The ultimate load-carrying capacity of a midply shear wall under a vertical load
of 18.2 kN/m was around 9 kN/m [8], whereas cyclic tests on X-lam panels under a vertical load of
18.5 kN/m provided a capacity of 39 kN/m [17]. A similar difference exists for the values of lateral
stiffness; midply timber frame walls have a lateral stiffness of around 0.8 kN/m ∙ mm [8] and X-lam
walls of 2.4 kN/m ∙ mm [17].
With the obtained test results on joints, wall assemblies and the 1D shaking table test on a full-scale
three-storey specimen, the seven-storey X-lam building could be prepared. Furthermore, the already
mentioned numerical model has been developed [21]. In [21], modelling results for different
earthquake loadings on the three-storey building have been presented. It was shown that the behaviour
factor q remained the same.
However, the building geometry did not change. Furthermore, the building response and energy
dissipation occurring before the near-collapse state is not considered applying Equation (1). As
stated in [24], this approach establishes a behaviour factor that is valid for design; any contribution
of ductile behaviour before reaching the near-collapse state is not considered. Moreover, the
frequency content of an earthquake and its effects on a structure is not taken into account.
In [24], the three-storey building was remodelled, evaluating the q-factor as the ratio of elastic base
shear over plastic base shear. The three-storey building was subjected to different earthquake loadings,
and the building’s eigenfrequency was modified to consider other building setups. However, the
modelling results presented in [24] did not yield different q-factors in comparison with those in [21].
The chosen q-factor for design is still 3.
Moreover, the influence of different lengths of the wall panels is considered to be rather small. In the
three-storey building, the walls of 6.94 m were assembled by three wall panels. Assuming one single
long wall panel without vertical joints, the q-factor should be reduced slightly as instead of energy
dissipation in the vertical joints of walls composed by various wall panels, long wall panels will
dissipate less energy.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
Figure 5. (a) Two plan views of the building; (b) south view of the test building.
The floor panels consisted also of X-lam panels with a constant thickness of 142 mm. As only
the building shell was tested, additional loads are needed to be arranged to account for the loads
resulting from finishings and imposed loads. Finishings are necessary for both walls and floors,
where usually the floor construction is very heavy, as an extra layer of sand is added for acoustic
insulation. As for imposed loads, according to European seismic design, 30% of the imposed loads
have to be considered. Therefore, an extra 30 t were added per floor, see Figure 6.
2.5. Joints
The joints have been designed according to the resulting design shear forces per storey. The various
joint types needed in the building were carried out with self-drilling screws except for the IVALSA
hold-downs, which were fastened to the wall panels with lag screws. Examples of joints are shown
in Figure 7. The number of connectors such as shear connectors, hold-downs and screws were
reduced when gaining building height according to the calculated horizontal and uplift forces. The
joint layout and information on the used fasteners are given in Appendix A.
In general, two critical joint locations of this construction technique were identified: the wall joints
in the corners and the joint of the floor slab to the lower wall. These two joints were designed such as
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
lag screws
hold-down
142
(b)
hold-down
Figure 7. (a) IVALSA hold-down; (b) shear connector; (c) shear connector at base level; (d) interstorey joint.
not to allow for any failure. The first joint had to ensure the box-type behaviour of the building without
the walls falling apart. The second joint had to ensure that the floor slabs remained on the walls and did
not glide too much. Joints providing ductility are other kinds of joints, such as vertical in-plane wall-to-
wall joints and the joints with hold-downs (Figure 7(a)) and shear connectors (Figure 7(b)–(c)). The
in-plane wall-to-wall joints were made with notches in the two adjacent panels covered by a laminated
veneer lumber strip fastened with self-drilling screws [25]. During the shaking table test on the
three-storey building, the importance of the in-plane wall-to-wall joints became evident. Ductility
and energy dissipation capacity of this type of joint was investigated by further research [25] that
could confirm the good properties. Apart from the hold-down joints and the shear joints, only
these in-plane wall-to-wall joints worked considerably during the three-storey shaking table test,
as can be seen in Table I.
Moreover, the previous test series have shown that this construction technique leads to stiff
buildings that have a box-type behaviour. In a slender and stiff building, the uplift restraints have an
important role as they are heavily loaded because of the prominent racking movement of the
building. This is especially true for shaking along the short direction X of the seven-storey building
as then it behaved as a bending beam. The hold-down joints provide a continuous path loading; they
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
are acting as a ‘chain’ running over the building height. The hold-downs at interstorey level are
provided beneath and above the floor slab; the two hold-downs are connected by a threaded bar
running through the slab. This joint type can be seen in Figure 7(d). In between, the X-lam panels
are transferring the loads.
upper
floor
transducer
2950
plywood
lower
floor
142
Figure 8. Measuring equipment. (a) 3D accelerometer; (b) interstorey drift; (c) uplift; (d) slip of in-plane
wall-to-wall joint.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
The test results of the full-scale shaking table tests on the seven-storey X-lam building are given in
Table IV (for level numbering, see Figure 5(b)). Table IV lists the natural frequencies measured
before and after major earthquakes and mentions the observed damage and subsequent restoring
interventions. The test outcomes of the shaking table test on the three-storey building were
confirmed. The seven-storey building remained upright and was easy to repair with some simple
restoring interventions. The construction technique was found to be self-centring and to have no
significant damage up to a PGA of 0.82 g, the maximum PGA of the JMA Kobe earthquake.
Incidentally, test 12, JMA Kobe 3D with original PGA, was interrupted. The hold-downs on floor
level of storey 2 (level 1, see Figure 5(b)) in the N–E corner in both building directions failed
during the test (Figure 16(a)) and had to be reinforced by adding hold-downs until the calculated
quantity of hold-downs was reached and by moving the present hold-downs adjacent to their
original position to fasten them again to the panels. These hold-down failures were due to a mere
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
Table IV. Natural frequencies, observations and restoring interventions during testing.
First frequency [Hz]
Test Input In X-direction in Y-direction
error in the design drawings where less hold-downs were shown than required by the design according
to Eurocode 8. Another observation is the loosening of the hold-down bolts due to the excess length of
the U-profile serving as hold-down (Figure 16(c)). This led to local failure in compression
perpendicular to the grain directly underneath the hold-downs resulting in clearance between hold-
down and floor panel. Also, nail pull out in the steel angles could be observed regularly (Figure 16(b)).
Figure 9 shows the development of the first natural frequency of the building in the X-direction and
Y-direction. Any change in these frequency values before and after a test series gives an indication of
the damage experienced by the building. Before the tests, the frequencies were 2.34 Hz in X-direction
and 3.32 Hz in Y-direction. As expected, on the basis of the design strategy, the stiffness of the building
in Y is hence higher than the stiffness in X, the shorter side of the building. It can also be seen that it was
impossible to fully restore the building with the repairing interventions listed in Table IV; the initial
frequency values could not be obtained again.
Along the short direction X, the fundamental frequency decreased by 24% from 2.34 to 1.76 Hz.
Along the long direction Y, the frequency decreased by 17% from 3.52 to 2.93 Hz.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
4.0
3.5
3.0
Frequency [Hz]
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
y-direction
0.5
x-direction
0.0
test 1
test 6
test 8
test 10
test 11
test 13
test 14
test 16
test 17
test 19
test 20
test 22
Figure 9. Development of first natural frequency.
Figure 10 shows the accelerations in all three directions on level 6 measured during test 18, 3D
JMA Kobe with original PGA. The accelerometers were fastened to the floor of the seventh
storey. The maximum observed acceleration is 3.8 g in X-direction, which is a peak value in a very
short time as can be seen in the detail of Figure 10. A mean value for the maximum acceleration
averaged over a period of 0.1 s as indicated in the detail is resulting to 1.7 g. Therefore, the maximum
accelerations at the seventh storey during test 18 were relatively high, which can be explained with the
high stiffness of the building.
Other relevant measuring data are interstorey drift and uplift. These two displacement types are
critical displacements for the building. Figure 11 shows the measured interstorey drift for test 18 for
the long direction Y (Figure 11(a)) and the short direction X (Figure 11(b)). A small torsional
movement could be observed. The movement in X-direction of the building shows a maximum
difference of 89 mm for the east (X1) and west (X3) walls, whereas the difference between the south
(Y1) and north (Y3) walls is smaller with 50 mm.
The maximum single value for the interstorey drift is 67 mm between the second and third floors of
the building (see also Figure 12(b)), whereas from the monotonic tests, an ultimate value of 80 mm was
max=3.1432 min=−3.768
4
acceleration in y
2
0 2
0
−2
−2
−4 −4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
16.2 40
16.25 45
16.3 50
16.35 16.4
max=2.4254 min=−2.2493
Acceleration [*g]
4
acceleration in x
2
0
−2
−4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
max=2.3826 min=−3.1497
4
acceleration in z
2
0
−2
−4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time [s]
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
(a) (b)
Figure 11. Maximum interstorey drift during test 18. (a) Long direction: south (Y1), intermediate (Y2) and
north (Y3) walls; (b) short direction: east (X1), intermediate (X2) and west (X3) walls.
Interstorey drift storey 3 North Wall [mm]
40 40
20 20
0 0
−20 −20
−40 −40
−60 −60
10 20 30 40 10 20 30 40
Time [s] Time [s]
(a) (b)
Figure 12. Interstorey drift of storey 3 during test 18. (a) Long direction, north (Y3) wall; (b) short direction,
east (X1) wall.
found (Figure 2(a)). The measured interstorey drift is hence not critical for the structural integrity of the
building. Furthermore, as can be seen in Figure 12, no residual interstorey drift was observed.
The maximum uplift during test 18 occurred in the N–E corner of the building. The maximum value
on level 0 (steel base) was 13.19 mm and the maximum uplift on the upper storeys occurred at level 2.
This uplift is composed of the uplift below and above the floor panel and resulted to 19.75 mm. The
monotonic tests have shown that this value is not critical for structural safety as then, an ultimate
uplift of 40 mm was found (Figure 2(b)).
Considering interstorey drift, known mass per storey of the SOFIE building and accelerations, load–
slip curves of the building could be derived. Applying Newton’s law, the seismic forces per storey were
calculated (using the recording of the 3D accelerometers positioned in the centre of the building) and
then plotted them against the interstorey drift of the respective storey. Figure 13 shows load–slip
curves during test 18. Measuring positions X1 (East) and Y1 (South) of the interstorey drift are
chosen. The short east and west walls (X-direction) were less stiff than the long south and north
walls (Y-direction) as designed intentionally. In [26], the interstorey deformation behaviour was
analysed, and it was concluded that in short direction, the building acted as a bending beam,
whereas in long direction, the building acted as a shear beam.
Figure 14 shows the overlap of the maximum seismic forces from Figure 13 versus the design load
resulting from the calculations according to Eurocode 8. The max base shear was 2830 kN in the long
direction and 1923 kN in the short direction. The design loads had been 3388 and 2479 kN,
respectively, which resulted in an error of 20% and 29%. This is an acceptable level, as the two
graphs also show that the design was on the safe side. The validity of the force-based approach in
Eurocode 8 could be confirmed.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
Load 6F in X [kN]
Load 6F in Y [kN]
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
Load 5F in X [kN]
Load 5F in Y [kN]
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
Load 4F in X [kN]
Load 4F in Y [kN]
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
Load 1F in X [kN]
2000 2000
0 0
−2000 −2000
Figure 13. Load-slip graphs of single levels, test 18. (a) In Y, south side; (b) in X, east side. Maximum shear
is 2830 kN on the first floor (1F) in the long direction Y (south side).
Figure 15 finally shows the measurements of a 3D accelerometer during a step input where the
building’s damping capabilities can be seen. Especially in Y-direction, the damping was quite
prominent with a damping of 6.9% in Y-direction and 4.6% in X-direction approximated with the
logarithmic decrement method between subsequent cycles, valid for low values of damping [27].
The first cycles were discarded to exclude any transient effects, and the calculation was based on
peak-to-peak values to exclude a possible zero offset of the data.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
(a) (b)
Figure 14. Seismic forces per storey, test result (test 18) versus design load. (a) Long direction Y, south side;
(b) short direction X, east side.
0.6
0.4 acceleration in y
0.2
0
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0.6
Acceleration [*g]
0.4 acceleration in x
0.2
0
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0.6
0.4 acceleration in z
0.2
0
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time [s]
4. DISCUSSION
After the whole series of tests with 10 major earthquakes, the building did not have any residual
displacement. The maximum values of uplift, interstorey drift and slip of vertical in-plane joints of
walls were not critical. Observable damage is given in Figure 16. Figure 16(a) shows hold-down
failure in the N–E corner after test 18, JMA Kobe 3D at original PGA.
As can be seen, the failure mode was ductile with fastener bending and embedment. Figure 16(b)
shows the pulled-out nails in shear connectors. This damage was observed especially after the
Kashiwazaki earthquake and often in the upper storeys with smaller weight where the large up–
down movement of the Kashiwazaki earthquake had great effect. Finally, Figure 16(c) shows why
the connecting bolts of the hold-downs were slack after the tests and why they had to be tightened.
Because of the small contact area of the hold-down with the wood, the wood fibres underneath the
hold-down were compressed perpendicular to the grain. The special hold-downs thus must be
produced with a plan contact area without any excess length.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
Figure 16. (a) Fastener failure of hold-downs; (b) pulling-out of nails; (c) wood failure in compression
perpendicular to the grain.
During test 18, high accelerations especially in the upper storeys with a maximum acceleration of 3.8 g
(Figure 10) were registered, however over a very short time span. Although these accelerations are
acceptable for human health as has been shown with research on roller coasters [28], they are
uncomfortable and displeasing for the habitants. Further research is needed to develop methods to
decrease the high accelerations, for instance, using tuned sloshing dampers at the upper storey. Other
possibilities to reduce the high accelerations are to use slip-friction connectors as proposed in [29] or by
assigning high ductility to some of the storeys that provide the energy dissipation capability of a multi-
storey X-lam building while the remaining storeys remain rigid and show a nearly elastic behaviour [30].
The test outcomes fully confirmed the results of the seismic test on the three-storey X-lam building;
the effectiveness of the construction system was shown. Not only does this construction system help to
avoid loss of human lives but the infrastructural losses can also be kept smaller as no permanent
deformations could be observed in the two tested buildings. Furthermore, observed damage can be
easily repaired if accessible. The force-based design approach as defined in Eurocode 8 is valuable.
APPENDIX A: Joints
The different joints in the building were as follows (for the definitions of grades, see below):
• Angle brackets in S235 as shear connectors to fasten building on steel base (BMF07116, see
Figure 7(c)), fastened with bolts M12 of class 8.8 to steel base and 11 annular ring shank nails
4 60 mm to walls;
• Angle brackets in S235 as shear connectors to fasten above-grade walls and lower walls to floor panels
(BMF07105, see Figure 7(b)), fastened with eight annular ring shank nails 4 60 mm per flange;
• IVALSA hold-downs in S235 as tension anchors in building corners and along the outer walls
(see Figure 7(a)), fastened with 30 lag screws 6 80 mm of class 4.6 to walls and with bolts
M24 of class 8.8 to steel base, respectively. M24 threaded bars of class 8.8 between the storeys,
Simpson HTT22 hold-downs fastened with 12 annular ring shank nails 4 60 mm;
• Self-drilling screws 8 180 mm of class 10.9 to connect the walls in the angles, staggered screws
with a screw distance of e = 15 cm;
• Self-drilling screws 8 140 mm of class 10.9 to connect the floor slabs (overlapped joints), e = 10 cm;
• Self-drilling screws 8 260 mm of class 10.9 to connect the floor slabs to the lower walls,
e = 15 cm; this joint is backed up by angle brackets;
• The butt joint with rebate of the walls was carried out with laminated veneer lumber strips and
self-drilling screws 8 100 mm of class 10.9, double row of staggered screws with e = 15 cm.
with (strength values are characteristic values)
• S235: European steel grade with 235 MPa yield strength and 355 MPa tension strength.
• BMF07116, BMF07105: article number of shear connectors shown in Figures 7(c) and 8(b).
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
3D SHAKING TABLE TEST ON A SEVEN-STOREY FULL-SCALE X-LAM BUILDING
Roof 48 22
7 Floor 13 —
6 Ceiling 15 12
Floor 48 38
5 Ceiling 25 26
Floor 75 57
4 Ceiling 32 52
Floor 74 98
3 Ceiling 31 53
Floor 97 106
2 Ceiling 48 53
Floor 93 114
1 Ceiling 64 58
Floor 138 128
6–7 — — 10 —
5–6 4 4 20 23
4–5 23 20 — —
3–4 23 20 — —
2–3 23 20 — —
1–2 34 28 — 3
Steel base 44 39 — —
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Such an extensive research project is obviously carried out by a whole group of researchers. We would like
to thank our colleagues Gabriele Bonamini, Marco Pio Lauriola, Maurizio Follesa, Mario Moschi, Mario
Pinna and Giovanna Franch, the Japanese company Better Living and the whole staff of the E-Defense
shaking table at NIED Miki. Furthermore, such a project is also expensive – our thanks go to the Provincia
Autonoma di Trento and to the company Rothoblaas who sponsored the IVALSA hold-downs used in the
seven-storey test.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Earthquake Engng Struct. Dyn. (2013)
DOI: 10.1002/eqe
A. CECCOTTI ET AL.
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