Experimental investigation of lateral resisting elements for the wood polyvinyl chloride composite log‐house under in‐plane lateral loads

Abstract

This study applied WPVC composite materials as log elements and investigated the lateral load resistance capability using two first log-foundation connections (LS-SST and LF-AB) and two corner joints (CJ-SN and CJ-SHL) subjected to monotonic and cyclic loads via an experimental approach. The obtained results indicated that the load resisting behavior of the connections was different, although the load bearing area of the connections was similar. The LF-SST connections experienced a brittle failure, while LF-AB showed a ductile failure. The premature failure occurred at the hollow web section of orthogonal log elements for both corner joints. The presence of a metal fastener directly affected the lateral load resisting behavior of the connection, especially under cyclic loading.The equivalent energy elastic plastic (EEEP) and hysteretic parameters were determined, indicating that LF-AB provided 1.8 times of ductility ratio and 35.4% of hysteretic energy higher than LF-SST, and that CJ-SHL had 3.1 and 2.8 times of monotonic and cyclic stiffnesses higher than CJ-SN. In comparing the experimental results with timber log elements, the hollow section of the WPVC composite log element had a negligible effect on load resisting behavior; however, it significantly affected the load resisting capacity, stiffness, damping, and premature failure. The experimental data and the proposed parameters will be useful for the further design of WPVC composite log houses.

Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Investigation for Wood/PVC Composites Log-Walls under In-Plane Lateral Load

“…In contrast, each log-layer was unrestrained in the vertical direction. Tearing of the first log-element was observed, as illustrated in Figure 7 b, with a failure shape similar to that of a single-joint experiment in a previous study [ 30 ]. This failure was also similar character to the solid timber log-wall [ 14 ], which failed by shear brittle failure of the lower part on the notch.…”

“…To maintain the approximate constant gravity load level during the panel deformed, the steel spring were inserted at one end of each thread BB bars and the gravity load level was monitored by load cell (30 kN capacity). The use of spring allowed the wall specimens to deform (uplift) while the vertical load was maintained, which corresponded to the behavior of building under lateral load, this technique was applied from previous research works [ 12 , 14 , 30 ]. In this research, the in-plane lateral load was emphasized.…”

“…A cyclic horizontal load with the rate of slip 0.2 mm·s −1 was applied according to BS EN 12512:2001 [ 34 ], as presented in Figure 5 b. An estimated yield slip (V y, est ) of 5 mm was determined as the average yield slip of CJ-SHL and LF-AB obtained from previous research [ 30 ]. The cyclic tests were controlled by lateral displacement.…”

“…In terms of comfort conditions, the acoustic performance and thermal resistances of a WPVC composite log-house were investigated in a field study and compared to a commercial knockdown house in a previous authors’ work [ 29 ]. In 2021, a corner-joint connection configuration and first log-foundation connection were proposed and examined under monotonic and cyclic lateral loading by the authors’ research [ 30 ]. The results indicated that an angle bracket first log-foundation connection (LF-AB) and standard half-lapped corner joint (CJ-SHL) were suitable for the WPVC composite log-house.…”

“…The effect of composite material and hollow cross-section possibly reflected the different behavior compared to the solid timber log-walls. Furthermore, the appropriate connections, obtained from the authors’ research [ 30 ], were used as lateral resisting elements in a full-scale WPVC composite log-wall to evaluate the entire behavior of wall under monotonic and cyclic loading. The in-plane lateral load behavior of the panel with and without additional through-bolts was determined experimentally.…”