Lateral tests on a two-story CLT house

Abstract

A two storey full-scale model of a CLT house, of 4.5 m x 9.1 m in-plane, with a height of 5.04 m, was tested under quasi-static monotonic (pushover). The main objectives were to investigate the 3-D system performance of a CLT structure subjected to lateral loads in terms of lateral strength and deformability capacity, global behaviour of the structure, frequency response of the structure, performance of connectors (mainly hold-downs and angle-brackets) and connections between CLT panels. Lateral loads have been applied on the storeys inducing torsion to the building. Loading procedure, number and disposition of connectors varied between tests. With this campaign it is intended to obtain results on: i) load-deformation response of a 3-D CLT structure subjected to lateral loads; ii) global response of the structure, focusing on the performance of CLT slabs subjected to in-plane loads, performance of parallel and perpendicular walls, and response of the structure near openings; iii) failure mechanisms and on the performance of connections between CLT panels and connectors. The outcomes of the full-scale CLT house tests will be used for further analytical and numerical analyses to help implement the new generation of Eurocode 8.