Lateral performance of timber shear walls reinforced by prestressed diagonal cross bars

摘要

This paper investigates the lateral performance of a new type of steel-wood composite walls, namely, timber shear walls reinforced by prestressed diagonal cross bars. A total of ten such walls with different features were subjected to monotonic in-plane horizontal loading tests, aiming to disclose the effects of these features on the failure mode, bearing capacity and ultimate displacement. The test results show that the walls reinforced by diagonal cross bars had better lateral performance than the traditional shear walls. The displacement of the walls decreased significantly with the growth in prestress. indicating that prestressing can reduce the ultimate displacement of the walls. However, the walls' bearing capacity had nothing to do with the prestress level. In addition, the enhancement effects of the bars were specified through the analysis on mechanical behaviors. The research findings provide new insights into the mechanical performance of steel-wood composite walls.