Experimental Seismic Response of a Resilient 2-Story Mass-Timber Building with Post-Tensioned Rocking Walls

This paper describes the design, construction, and experimental results of a series of full-scale 2-story mass-timber building shake table tests conducted at the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) at the University of California, San Diego large outdoor shake table facility. The building specimen utilized a lateral force-resisting system consisting of two post-tensioned rocking walls made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The structural system was designed to be resilient with the ability to undergo repetitive testing under strong ground motions without significant damage. The test building had an open floor plan suitable for mixed commercial and residential applications. The CLT floor and roof diaphragm had large cantilevered portions that represented realistic aspect ratios. The building was subjected to a series of 14 earthquake ground motions and pushed to a maximum roof drift of 5%. After completion of the dynamic tests, which included several ground motions at the maximum considered earthquake hazard level, the building was able to recenter with no unintended structural damage, highlighting the resilience of the mass-timber rocking-wall structural system.