Mechanical performance of cross laminated timber infill wall-steel frames

Abstract

Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (Abbrev. OpenSees) was used to do some exploratory numerical research on the cross laminated timber (CLT) infill wall-steel frame system. Numerical analysis was performed including the mechanical performance of the CLT infill wall-steel frame under monotonic and cyclic loading, cooperative working performance between the CLT panel and steel frame, and the influence of the number of bracket connections on the mechanical performance of the structure. The results are presented as follows:the lateral stiffness and bearing capacity of the steel frame can be strengthened by the CLT infill wall; flexible connections show a better performance of energy dissipation; the gap setting is not only used to postpone the cracking time of the wall, but also beneficial to develop the energy dissipation and deformation of connections; the number of connections has great effect on the lateral resistance of the structure, and furthermore, various stiffness and energy dissipation capacities of the structure can be designed by adjusting the number and space of connections.

Keywords

• laminated timber structures
• infill walls
• performance analysis
• energy dissipation
• lateral stiffness
• connections