THE CONNECTION RESPONSE OF ROCKING TIMBER WALLS

This paper provides an updated analytical designapproach for assessing the connection response ofrocking timber walls. This approach was calibratedusing a finite element (FE) sensitivity study andvalidated using experimental data.A strong correlation was achieved between thecalibrated analytical relationship (for the neutral axisdepth) and the results of 44 FE models. Furthermore,it was found that the deformation profile at thebase of the walls was significantly non-linear, whichhas an impact of accuracy of the proposed designapproaches.It was demonstrated that an existing design approach,The Monolithic Beam Analogy, may significantlyunderestimate the peak stresses in the timber withinthe rocking connection.Further experimental verification is recommended