Performance of above ground floor clt wall systems and connections under monotonic loading

While multi-storey cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction is well established in areas of low seismicity, few CLT buildings have been constructed in areas of higher seismicity due to limited understanding of the behaviour of CLT buildings under lateral loading; therefore, this study aims to further this understanding. This study experimentally investigates the behaviour of CLT wall systems, representative of above ground floor wall systems in a 10 storey building, under lateral loading. Typical above ground floor storey connections were also experimentally investigated under monotonic loading in shear and tension to determine their influence on the behaviour of a wall system. It was observed that vertical load has significant effect on both sliding and rocking deformation of a wall system, and hence the likely failure mode. It was also found that the connections have notable strength in the loading direction for which they are not designed to resist.