City Research Online

Abstract

As a sustainable alternative to the steel and concrete, cross laminated timber (CLT) shear wall system is getting increasingly popular in the mid-rise and high-rise construction, and that imposes new challenges in their seismic performance. The conventional connections used in this system, such as steel hold-downs and angle brackets, are however susceptible to brittle failures, thus being inappropriate for using in structures in seismic regions. A series of innovative connections are therefore proposed in the recent years for achieving better seismic behaviours in CLT structures, characterised by adequate capacity, significantly improved ductility and dissipative capacity, as well as more controllable ductile failure modes. This paper first reviews the recent studies of CLT shear wall systems and conventional connections. Connection systems and shear wall reinforcement methods that recently proposed for seismic resilient CLT structures are then introduced, with their design strategies being summarised accordingly. The connections are then discussed comprehensively in terms of structural performance, manufacturability, and constructability, employing similar criteria that previously proposed for steel modular connections. It is found that much improved duclility along with more predictable, ductile, timber damage-free deformation modes are achived in most of the new connections. Some new connectors are deisgned with additional functionalities for optimised seismic performane or easing the construction process, which, however, lead to complex designs that may add difficulties to the mass production. Therefore, comprehensive considereations are needed in connection design and the discussion of this paper aim to assist in the future development of connection systems for seismic resilient multi-storey CLT buildings.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Publisher Keywords:	seismic resilience; steel connection; design criteria; CLT construction; modular buildings
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Engineering
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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