Description

By testing both rooms and component walls under seismic racking forces, this project investigates the relationship between racking tests on isolated bracing walls and the racking performance of low-rise timber-framed houses constructed from similar walls.

It attempts to assess the extent to which houses are stronger than the sum of the component walls. It also attempts to determine the appropriate level of uplift end restraint to use for tests on isolated walls to simulate boundary end restraints in actual construction.

The testing used pseudo half-scale construction. The theory and verification of this method is given in the report.