INFLUENCE OF CYCLIC TEST PROTOCOLS ON PERFORMANCE OF WOOD-BASED SHEARWALLS

This paper compares the test results obtained from three cyclic test p rotocols in a series of studies on lateral resistance of wood-based sh ear walls built with oriented strand board panels. When the shear wall s were subjected to a long sequence of cycle groups, the failure mode was dominated by low cycle fatigue failure of nail connectors which wa s rarely observed under seismic conditions. Alternate cyclic loading p rotocols with large amplitude but short sequence allowed shear walls t o avoid this type of nail failure. The results also indicate that unde r the high amplitude short sequence cyclic test protocol, a higher rac king resistance of the shear wall can be achieved which approaches the peak loads from monotonic tests.