Earthquake resilient timber structures using rocking Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) walls coupled with Resilient Slip Friction Joints (RSFJs)

There is an increasing public pressure to have damage avoidant structural systems in order to minimize thedestruction after severe earthquakes with no post-event maintenance. This study presents and investigates ahybrid steel-timber damage avoidant Lateral Load Resisting System (LLRS) using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)walls coupled with innovative Resilient Slip Friction (RSF) joints and boundary steel columns. RSF joints are usedas ductile links between the adjacent walls or between the walls and the columns. These joints are capableto provide a self-centring behaviour (the main deficiency of conventional friction joints) in addition to a highrate of energy dissipation all in one compact device. One significant advantage of this system is that there arepractically no bending stresses in the CLT panels which considerably increases the allowable capacity of thesystem. A numerical model for a four story prototype building containing the proposed concept is developedand subjected to time-history simulations. The results confirm that this system can be considered as the newgeneration of resilient LLRSs for different types of structures.