Lateral force resistance performance of sheathing sandwiched wood shear walls

In order to evaluate the influences of different structural forms on the lateral force resistance performance of sheathing sandwiched wood shear walls, one monotonic loading test and seven reversed cyclic tests were performed for 8 specimens of such walls. Four typical specimen parameters were considered including wall length, stud spacing, sheathing plate thickness and nails spacing. The specimens' failure modes and their shear strength, lateral stiffness, ultimate displacement, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation were analyzed and compared. The results showed that the tensile fracture of end stud appearing at the top of hold-down is the main cause for the overall damage of sheathing sandwiched wood shear walls; the sheathing plate thickness determines the failure modes of nail connections on the edge frame, and it has significant effects on the lateral stiffness and ultimate displacement of the walls; appropriate decrease in nails spacing can increase the shear strength and lateral stiffness of the walls, but the nails spacing should be larger than 75/150 mm to avoid splitting of top plates and bottom plates; sheathing sandwiched shear walls have an excellent lateral force resistance performance and can be applied in high-rise or mid-rise timber buildings.