Description

This report forms the first phase of an investigation into the wind and earthquake racking resistance of timber framed New Zealand houses from roof to ground floor level. 

The racking resistance of walls is often determined by summing the strength of relatively short panels between door and window openings. The strength of these short panels is found by tests in which the wall panel is either entirely (most countries) or partially (New Zealand) prevented from rocking as a rigid body. Australian standard tests are the exception, where no external forces are applied to prevent this rigid body motion. To investigate the above methodologies, 10 racking tests were conducted with five different long (up to 6.6m) wall configurations, incorporating wall returns and typical openings, and using various combinations of sheathings. No external uplift restraints were used.