A numerical study of the seismic behaviour of timber shear walls with slip-friction connectors

In the event of seismic overloading, timber shear walls have normally been designed to yield by allowing inelastic distortion of the sheathing-to-framing nail connections, thereby reducing the likelihood of brittle failure of timber chords or plywood sheathing. A new concept in shear wall design is presented. It involves the use of slip-friction connectors in lieu of traditional hold-down connectors. Slip-friction connectors, originally developed for the steel framing industry, rely on the mobilisation of friction across steel plates to resist loading up to a predetermined threshold. Upon this threshold being exceeded, relative sliding between the steel plates allows the shear wall to displace in an inelastic manner. This paper discusses the results of numerical analyses of timber shear walls which utilise slip-friction connectors. The results suggest that slip-friction connectors hold the promise of being able to effectively protect sheathing, framing, and nail connections from excessive stresses and deformations during earthquake events of design level intensity or higher. Walls with appropriately adjusted slip-friction connectors are highly ductile, are efficient dissipaters of seismic energy, and have a tendency to self-centre after an earthquake.