Tests to Determine the Joint Stiffness and Resisting Moment Capacity of Joints in Timber-Framed Houses

Wind and earthquake disasters in the world often cause billions of dollars of damage to buildings, most of which is to non-engineered buildings-especially homes. Wood-frame homes use connectors which exhibit partial rotational rigidity at the member ends, making analytical solutions difficult. This is due to the lack of information about the complex behavior of the connections used in this type of buildings, and the lack of a methodology to analyze light-timber frame buildings with flexible joints. In order to address the problem, tests were carried out to determine the moment rotation characteristics of wood joints made of conventional and mechanical fasteners. During testing, it was discovered that rotational stiffness of timber connections is a function of the axial load as well as the shear load. Comparison of ordinary timber connections with metal connectors were made. Resisting moment capacity of joints with different connectors were also determined. This paper presents a new method of testing for joint stiffness and the experimental results obtained during testing for stud-to-bottom-plate, rafter-to-ridge-board, and top-plate-to-rafter connections using different connectors.