Hybrid timber-steel shear wall systems focus of new research

Friday 11 Mar 2016

 
New research involving the University of Canterbury funded by the Earthquake Commission will improve understanding of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, seismic building design, and enhance risk management and risk communication. These four pieces of research are among 15 projects being funded by NZ$1 million in grants made available through EQC’s 2016 Biennial Research Funding Programme. Overall, EQC contributes NZ$16 million to research annually to build knowledge about New Zealand’s natural hazards and how to manage them.

A leader in Engineering and Forestry, UC has a long history of world-class research excellence in timber structures. This includes the innovative post-tensioned timber technology, invented by UC’s timber research team led by Professor Andy Buchanan, Professor Stefano Pampanin and Associate Professor Alessandro Palermo, which has been successfully used in building commercial/industrial timber structures, including extensively in Christchurch’s rebuild.

The 2016 Biennial Research Funding Programme recipients at UC include “Seismic design of timber-steel hybrid shear wall systems for mid-rise light timber framed buildings”, Minghao Li, University of Canterbury with Tongji University, China. UC Lecturer of Timber Engineering Dr Minghao Li joined the team in 2014 after 10 years’ research experience in structural timber engineering in Canada. “I’m interested in using my timber expertise to contribute to UC’s timber research excellence and help build more timber buildings with better performance in New Zealand,” Dr Li says.

In many countries including New Zealand light timber frames (LTF) have dominated low-rise house construction due to their cost-efficiency and structural efficiency. Considering high seismicity in New Zealand, conventional LTF shear walls may not be sufficiently strong for taller LTF buildings. The aim of the research project on seismic design of hybrid timber-steel shear wall systems is to provide a cost-effective timber-steel solution for mid-rise LTF buildings suitable for New Zealand’s built environment.

Source: University of Canterbury

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