For wood beams, it is often assumed that the neutral axis (NA) is located at the centroid of the beam. This would be the case for isotropic and homogeneous materials but these prerequisites are not valid for wood. The varying grain patterns and knots located throughout wood make wood anisotropic...
The effect of grain angle (GA) on shear strength of Douglas-fir has been evaluated. Shear block specimens with a GA varying from 0 to 90° was loaded in the shear plane, resulting in failure mode transitioning from parallel to grain shear to rolling shear. As expected, shear strength decreased as...
A numerical investigation is presented on effects of plan configuration on seismic responses of single-story, wood-frame dwellings. 151 models were developed using observations of 412 dwellings of rectangular, L, T, U, and Z-shapes in Oregon. A nonlinear, time-history program, Seismic Analysis Package for Wood-frame Structures, was the analysis platform. Models...
This paper highlights the development of a rapid visual screening (RVS) tool to quickly identify, inventory, and rank residential buildings that are potentially seismically hazardous, focusing on single-family, wood-frame dwellings with plan irregularity. The SAPWood software was used to perform a series of nonlinear time-history analyses for 480 representative models,...
Current compression perpendicular-to-grain (C-perpendicular to) design values for wood members are based on mean stress obtained from ASTM D143 specimen. The standard ASTM test with metal on wood bearing has limited applicability in modern construction assemblies with C-perpendicular to loading scenarios. Previous work has shown that end-bearing conditions and wood-on-wood...
The assessment of losses during extreme events such as hurricanes is important for performance-based design of residential buildings. In this paper, a methodology for estimating the risk of debris impact, specifically roof sheathing panels, to windows as a result of hurricanes is introduced and applied to an illustrative example. The...
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Great Tohoku Japan earthquake and tsunami focused a great deal of the world’s attention on the effect of tsunamis on buildings and infrastructure. When a tsunami impacts structures in a coastal community, the structures are often not strong enough to withstand the...
Over the last half-century, scientists and engineers have developed methods to better understand and mitigate the damage caused by tsunamis. According to U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) P646, buildings in many regions including the U.S. Pacific Northwest, will experience substantial ground shaking from an offshore earthquake that precedes a...
In the summer of 2009, a full-scale midrise wood-frame building was tested under a series of simulated earthquakes on the world's largest shake table in Miki City, Japan. The objective of this series of tests was to validate a performance-based seismic design approach by qualitatively and quantitatively examining the building's...
Fracture toughness of wood and wood composites has traditionally been characterized by a stress intensity factor, an initiation strain energy release rate (G[subscript init]) or a total energy to fracture (G[subscript f]). These parameters provide incomplete fracture characterization for these materials because the toughness changes as the crack propagates. Thus...
Tornadoes represent a unique natural hazard because of the very low probability of
occurrence, short warning times (on the order of only a few minutes), and the intense and
destructive forces imposed on engineered and non-engineered buildings. The very low-probability very high-consequence nature of a tornado strike makes designing for...
Global sustainability goals have led to the development of the green building movement. The Green
Building Program, stemming from the movement, has had unprecedented success as it provides a quantifi able
metric to people’s efforts towards sustainable development. Sustainable development and green buildings are often
used interchangeably. Although, sustainable development...
Wood and wood-based composites are being used extensively in single-family residential dwellings. Therefore, it is important to categorize their response when exposed to elevated temperatures for a sustained period of time. In fire-resistant design for wood structures, the main goal is to ensure that enough structural integrity is maintained, during...
The performance of full-scale light-frame wood walls subjected to wave loading was examined using the Large Wave Flume of the Network for Earthquake Engineering (NEES) Tsunami Facility at Oregon State University. The hydrodynamic conditions (water level and bore speed) and structural response (horizontal force, pressure, and deflection) were observed for...
Remediation methods and strength predictions were evaluated for wood I-joists with single, circular holes in the webs, leaving utilities in place. A full-scale bending test using four equally-spaced point loads was applied to three depths of joists with varying flange widths and span lengths of 4.88 m and 2.44 m....
There are about 80 million single-family dwellings (SFD) in the United States,
predominantly of wood-frame construction. Of these, 68% are owner occupied. A home is
typically the largest single investment of a family, and is often not covered by earthquake
insurance, even where it is available. Of all the houses...
The objective of this study was to develop and validate practical modeling methods for investigating load paths and system behavior in a realistic, light-frame wood structure. The modeling methods were validated against full-scale tests on sub-assemblies and an L-shaped house. The model of the L-shaped house was then modified and...
This paper presents the results of a test program whose goal was to better understand the contribution of individual elements to the performance of typical light-frame wood structures during tsunami loading. The intent was to be able to replicate failures in a structural engineering laboratory that were observed during laboratory...
Ten full size (3.7 x 4.9 m) plywood roof diaphragms were constructed using metal plate connected (MPC) common and hip wood trusses or joists, typical of single-family dwelling (SFD) construction. The specimens included three gable roof slopes of 33, 67 and 100%, a hip roof of 33% slope, and a...
The effect of grain angle (GA) on shear strength of Douglas-fir has been evaluated. Shear block specimens with a GA varying from 0 to 90° was loaded in the shear plane, resulting in failure mode transitioning from parallel to grain shear to rolling shear. As expected, shear strength decreased as...