Horizontal Displacements in Medium-Rise Timber Buildings: Basic FE Modeling in Serviceability Limit State

Abstract

Higher and larger timber buildings are built today. The building is exposed to static lateral wind loads that cause displacements that might lead to discomfort and non-function of the building. To determine the size and behavior of horizontal displacements, two timber systems has been studied, a light frame system with shear walls and a post and beam system with diagonal bracing. The stabilizing wall segments have been analyzed with a FE model and subjected to static lateral wind load and vertical dead load in serviceability limit state. Both plywood and particle board were used as sheet materials. To reduce flanking transmission Sylomer® is applied in the light frame system. The total lateral displacement varies between 4 to 125 mm in the light frame system and 2 to 5 mm in the post and beam system. Removing the Sylomer® damping material from the light-frame system would decrease the lateral displacements with 1.5-3 times, which needs to be further investigated. © RILEM 2014.