123

TIMBER SHEATHED WALLS FOR WIND

AND EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE
D. J. Dowrickl and P. C. Smlth2

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the principles of timber sheathed

walls (shear walls), gives guidance on modelling, analysis and
details, and reviews the relevant research on behaviour under
cyclic loading. The scope of the paper is limited to walls
sheathed with plywood, particle or fibre board sheets, nailed
to the framing. With appropriate nailing details, good
performance under wind and earthquake loads can.be obtained.

1. INTRODUCTION load testing has been done on the latter

form of timber shear wall, but
This paper is one of a series of theoretical design procedures for what
papers on the design of timber structures are in effect walls with large openings
for wind and earthquake resistance, are available (Dean et al, 1984).
resulting from the work of a joint
committee of the New Zealand Timber As all of the cyclic load tests so
Design Society and the New Zealand far carried out have been on cantilever
National Society for Earthquake walls, the content of this paper
engineering (Williams, 1986). This paper generally is based on them. We recommend
discusses the behaviour and design of that highly stressed ductile timber
timber sheathed walls which will perform cantilever sheathed walls should not be
well in both wind and earthquake loading. penetrated by large openings, and
The dominant consideration is the sheathed walls which are highly stressed
achievement of ductile behaviour without under earthquake loads should preferably
excessive loss of strength under strong have none but the smallest of openings.
seismic excitation. As timber itself fails in a brittle
manner, at least in tension, the
With the latter in mind the ductility of sheathed walls has to be
present discussion is limited to those produced by ensuring that either the
forms of construction which currently nails or the holding down bolts at the
promise the best toughness under strong base yield rather than failure occurring
earthquake loads as follows: in "the timber, ie a capacity design
approach is required.
Sheathing materials
Nail yielding is ensured by using
- plywood nails of the appropriate number, type and
- particle board (medium and high proportion as discussed in separate
density only) companion papers in this series (Collins,
- fibre board 1986 and Dean et al, 1986). Undesirable
non-ductile failure modes that have to be
Method of fixing sheathing to framing prevented by providing sufficient load
capacity typically include the following:
- nails
Location Mode (in timber
It is noted that while sheathing
components)
in the traditional form of boarding (ie
narrow strips) may be satisfactory it
will not be discussed here. Also we note Rolling shear - (Glued
Panel
that design provisions for gluing as an
interior construction)
alternative to nailed fixing will not be
Shear
discussed here, although it may be
included in the committee's reports later Buckling
in the light of the work of Yap (1985).
This paper is concerned with Edge fixing Tearing of panel
ductile walls only, which mostly occur as (panel to Nail withdrawal
simple cantilevers, but coupled pairs of framing) (premature)
walls may also be used. As yet no cyclic Nail rotation (rigid body)

"Physics and Engineering Laboratory, Boundary Shear

,DSIR, Lower Hutt (at base) Tension (overturning)
'Spencer Holmes Miller and Partners Ltd, Compression (overturning)
Wellington

BULLETIN OF THE NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING, Vol. 19, No. 2, June 1986
124

Finally it is noted that the good were 8 ft (2.4 m) square with plywood
performance of sheathed walls under thicknesses of 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 inch,
loading depends strongly on good nailed to redwood framing.
detailing, so that careful attention to
nailing parameters such as edge distance After Medearis there is a gap in
and spacing is essential. The above- published research on cyclic loading,
mentioned nail yield design procedure until the current spate of interest in
provides a ductility level that is New Zealand during the last few years.
implied in the SM factors that have been The first sign of renewed interest is
under study for deriving the earthquake some unpublished cyclic load tests
design loads for the New Zealand code carried out by Brickell Moss and Partners
N2S 4203, as described in the companion (1978) on walls of high aspect ratio
papers of Dean et al (1986) and Moss (H/B = 2.4) sheathed with medium grade
et al (1986). Good performance under particle board. These gave encouraging
seismic loading will also depend on results and led to the Ministry of Works
control of horizontal deflection which and Development carrying out further
may govern the design of more slender tests on particle board walls (Thurston
walls. and Flack, 1980). The latter tests were
on squat walls (H/B 1) and confirmed
2. RESEARCH INTO LATERAL LOAD that medium grade particle board
RESISTANCE OF TIMBER SHEAR WALLS sheathing behaved in a similar manner to
that found for plywood by Medearis, with
This brief review refers to the high ductility and energy absorption
main research work of interest to this being apparent (Fig 1 ) .
paper, namely plywood and particle board
sheathings, and the resistance of such The above work on particle board
walls to lateral loading particularly of was followed by the examination of
a cyclic nature. plywood sheathed walls at Canterbury
University and at the Ministry of Works
The original work on the and Development. The former work has
resistance of timber shear walls to been conducted during the current
doctoral thesis studies of W G Stewart
cyclic loading was that done over 20
and is therefore not yet fully
years ago by Medearis (1962, 1966) .
documented. However it has included
Investigating plywood sheathed walls, he
cyclic load tests of different types of
obtained good hysteretic behaviour with
holding down connections (Stewart et al,
high energy absorption (fat hysteresis 1984) and cyclic load tests of squat
loops) and no strength degradation in the shear walls (H/B = 1 ) , which comprised
loading range of interest. His walls both static cycling and shake-table

Fig 1. CYCLIC LOAD T E S T O N PARTICLE B O A R D S H E A T H E D WALL ( F R O M T H U R S T O N A N D FLACK, 1980)

 125

dynamic tests. This research is

contributing strongly to our
understanding of appropriate equivalent-
static code design loads (ie SM factors)
and the final outcome of this work is
awaited with interest.

The Ministry of Works and

Development research on behaviour of
plywood sheathed walls under cyclic
loading (Thurston and Hutchison, 1984;
Thurston, 1984) involved tests on walls
of two different aspect ratios, H/B = 2
and 2/3, all walls being 2.4 m high. The
hysteretic behaviour of a wall with
H/B = 2 (Fig 2) is shown in Fig 3 and is
typical of all test results.

The singular characteristic

feature of the behaviour of plywood and
particle board walls is the progressive
pinching of hysteresis loops under
repeated cycles of loading. Fortunately,
although the stiffness degrades in the
initial displacement range of each cycle,
the strength does not decay at higher
displacements within the displacement
range of design interest. The main
objective of our committee's work has
thus been to understand fully the
implications of this pinched hysteretic
behaviour for the acceptable seismic
response of structures, and hence to
develop design and detailing together
with relevant code loadings which make
proper use of the ductility and energy
absorption potential of timber sheathed
wa 11 s.
Fig 2. T E S T S E T - U P FOR C Y C L I C LOAD T E S T R E S U L T S S H O W N
IN FIG 3 ( F R O M T H U R S T O N , 1984)

D E F L E C T I ON (MM)

Fig 3. CYCLIC LOAD T E S T O N P L Y W O O D S H E A T H E D WALL (FROM T H U R S T O N , 1984)

126

Thurston (1984) compared the A review of the hysteresis

behaviour of the Ministry of Works and behaviour of all types of timber
Development tests on plywood and particle structures has been carried out by
board sheathed walls, and found them to Dowrick (1985, 1986) together with a
be very similar. The close similarity of review of computer modelling techniques.
the nail slip curves for the two This was used as a basis for studies
materials (Fig 4a) leads to similar establishing code loadings structural
overall behaviour of the corresponding factors (SM factors) reported elsewhere
walls(Fig 4 b ) . in this series of papers (Dean et al,
1986; Moss et al, 1986) .
The influence of non-elastomeric
glue on the cyclic behaviour of walls 3. APPORTIONING LOADS
sheathed with 9 mm plywood has been
studied by Yap (1985), who found that The gravity and lateral loads on
behaviour was essentially elastic up to each wall unit should be determined using
failure, ie behaviour was brittle. a rational method of analysis.
Failure was in glue bond and sheathing
tension, and it was thought that failure The distribution of lateral loads
was initiated by plywood buckling. is determined by the flexibility of the

cs Q

I Cprrocted Panei Dofloction CinirJ

Fig 4 C O M P A R I S O N O F NAIL SLIP AND PANEL D E F L E C T I O N FOR P L Y W O O D A N D

P A R T I C L E BOARD CLADDING (FROM T H U R S T O N , 1984).
 127

diaphragm relative to the flexibility of w (kN/m)

the lateral load resisting system.
Timber diaphragms are significantly more
flexible than reinforced concrete
diaphragms and rarely should the timber
diaphragm be assumed to be rigid.
Gravity Lateral
The lateral deformation at the top
of a timber sheathed wall is the sum of
the deflection resulting from nail
deformation, bending, shear and the
flexibility of the base fixings.

The distri bution of lateral loads

v~ 6VH
to the various lateral load resisting
elements may be calculated using the Fig 5. FORCE DIAGRAMS FOR WALLS WITH CONTINUOUS BASE
beam-on-elastic-s upport analogy. This RESTRAINT.
analysis is readily modelled on
microcomputers using the diaphragm
stiffness prope rties for the beam
properties and the stiffness of the
various lateral load resisting elements
for the supports (spring modelled) (Smith
and Dowrick, 1 9 8 6 ) . w(kN/m)

The distribution of the lateral mmm

loads to lateral load resisting elements
in proportion to the tributary areas
should only be used for small unimportant
structures or structures with single span Gravity Total
diaphragms

After the lateral load to be

applied to each lateral load resisting
element has been derived the individual
shear walls have to be designed for these
loads.
m
w I
4. RESISTANCE TO IN-PLANE HORIZONTAL VVH
LOADS B
Fig 6. FORCE DIAGRAMS FOR WALLS WITH BASE FIXINGS AT
The overturning moment resulting ENDS ONLY.
from the application of the lateral load
can either be resisted by a triangular
load distribution along the base (Fig 5 )
or by concentrated loads at the extremes VH/B in compression, it is reasonable to
of the panel (Fig 6 ) . assume that the compression force is
resisted directly beneath the boundary
Where the overturning moment is member so that length B is the horizontal
assumed to be resisted by a triangular distance between the centreline of the
distribution, the fixing between the tensile connection and the centreline of
sheathing and the bottom plate is the boundary member. In most walls the
required to transfer the overturning design lateral shear at practical nail
moment in addition to the transfer of the spacings is such that the above
lateral shear V into the bottom plate. assumption is reasonable although for
heavily loaded walls the designer should
The resisting of the overturning check the reasonableness of this
moment by a triangular distribution also assumption.
introduces bending forces into the bottom
plate and requires the fixing between the Where the bottom plate extends
bottom plate and the foundation to be under the vertical member XO it is
designed for the induced loads. important that the bearing pressure
perpendicular to the grain is checked in
As the transfer of the overturning the bottom plate.
moment in addition to the lateral shear
significantly increases the load in the
fixing between the sheathing and the
bottom plate, this paper will only 5. DESIGN OF WALL
consider the design of walls where end
fixing is utilized to resist the The design of a typical wail
overturning moment and the lateral shear requires the systematic analysis of each
force V is resisted by adequate fixings element and the connections between all
between the bottom plate and the elements that constitute the completed
foundation. wall assembly.

Providing the boundary member XO The design of wall elements should

is capable of carrying the axial load include analysis for:
128

Panels Shear stress the required ductility demand to the

Panel buckling design nail load.
Rolling shear
As well as transferring vertical
Framing Members Support of gravity loads, the nails apply reactions to the
loads framing which must be taken into account.
Resistance to axial
loads from These forces resolve in internal
overturning framing members and result in secondary
Secondary stresses at effects in boundary framing members
connections (Fig 7 ) .

As the wall unit achieves Further secondary effects result

ductility through non-linear nail if base connections are not concentric
deformation or yielding of ductile base and the analysis of the framing members
fixing details the premature failure in should include such effects.
other than the selected failure mode must
be avoided by adopting capacity design All such effects need to be
procedures for panel shear, chord design, considered if premature brittle failure
external connections that are not load of the framing is to be prevented.
limiting etc.

The analysis of connections Panel shear

between elements should include the
floor-wall and roof-wall connections, and The racking load causes a panel
connections between framing and shear stress of
foundations.
V/Bt (1)
Support of gravity loads
where v = racking load to individual
Vertical gravity loads are usually panel (kN)
considered to be distributed into the B = width of sheet (m)
studs at the level of the top plate and t = thickness (m)
to be transferred by the studs to the
bottom plate without causing stress in Again the shear V must be calculated
sheathing or fastenings. using capacity design methods when the
panel is subjected to seismic loads.
In heavily loaded walls the
designer must ensure that the timber
members are installed dry and constructed
with bearing surfaces in contact in
addition to checking the bearing strength
of all connections along the load path.
YAB

Resistance to axial loads from B XAB

overturning

The overturning moment is resisted

|Y AD
BC
XAD YBA T

by axial loads in the boundary members at
each end of the wall assembly. These X c B

loads are transferred from the sheathing

into the boundary members through the
nails and from the boundary members to
the foundations via the base connections.

The maximum force in the boundary

member occurs at the connection to the
foundation and is normally assumed to be
reaction VH/B. For ductile yielding
walls subject to seismic load this
reaction must be calculated using
capacity design methods and all fixings
sized accordingly. Appropriate allowance
for reduction in thickness at connections
should be included where bolts are used.

Buckling of the compressive member

should be checked although for single and
^DA XCB
two storey walls it is unlikely to be D
critical.
YQA IYCB
Design of framing
XDC D XcD
Framing members should be designed
for overstrength that occurs through
development of non-linear nail
deformation. All framing forces need to
Fig 7. FORCES ON WALL FRAMING.
be increased by the ratio of nail load at
 129

Panel buckling

For thicker sheathing (eg 12 mm or more)

the normal magnitude of racking forces
which sheathing materials will be called
upon to resist is unlikely to cause local
buckling failure. As noted in Section 2,
buckling may begin to be a problem for
sheathing 9 mm thick. However, the
thinness at which buckling may be a
design problem has not been fully
established. Rules for the stability of
plywood panels given in NZS 3615:1981
should be interpreted in this research
context.

Rolling shear (a) Framing (b) Panel

Deformation Deformation
Rolling shear is that shear acting
in the plane of the plies that tends to
cause the wood fibres of the Fig 8. DEFINITIONS OF A AND 9 FOR USE IN
perpendicular plies to roll on one EQUATIONS 2 TO 4
another. Where a plywood sheet is
subjected to bending or the edges of the
sheet are glued to the framing, rolling
shear strength should always be
calculated since the rolling shear
strength of plywood is much less than the Forces on the framing members are
shear strength parallel to the grain. given in Fig 7.

ANALYSIS OF NAIL LOADS If the maximum nail load at the

After the loads and reactions on
the wall panel have been established the
internal forces in individual sheets of
sheathing should be determined.
corner of the sheet is assumed to be 1/k
times the allowable code nail load, then
the constant k for 2400 x 1200 sheets is
as follows for various nail patterns.

The resistance of a typical single

sheet of cladding which is fastened to a Table 1 : Values of k
rectangular frame is provided by the
nailed connection between the sheet and Nail spacing around
the frame. While the frame tends to perimeter of sheets (mm)
distort into a parallelogram shape
(Fig 8 a ) , the panel, which is essentially Sheet aspect
rigid, tends to move horizontally and to ratio 250 150 100 75 50
rotate under the forces imposed on it (Heightxwidth)
from the distortion of the frame
(Fig 8 b ) .
2400 x 1200 0.82 0.85 0.88 0.89 0.91
The relative displacement between
the panel and the frame results in forces 1200 x 2400 0.90 0.91 0.92 0.93 0.94
being induced in the connecting nails.
Walker (undated) has shown that

0H i=l i y

A n . 0 (2) Consequently the design nail load

.1, (xf + yf) should be reduced by factor k to allow
1=1 i i J

for the greater deformation of nails near

the corners of the sheets.

n The beneficial effects of running

the plywood sheets horizontally and using
F^(max) - closer nail spacing should be noted.

kA / eH 2 ^
v ,6H . 2 B. 2 , The basic working strengths for
various sheet products are included in
2" ( J (1 - ) + ( ) <>
S ) (4) Appendix A. This data has generally been
extracted from trade literature and test
where the origin of the coordinates results published by the manufacturers,
system is at the centre of the panel, the and only average values are given.
nailing is assumed to be symmetrical
about the x and y axis, nail coordinates 6. ESTIMATION OF HORIZONTAL
are given by x., y. where i = 1 to n, DEFLECTIONS
there being n nailJ around the perimeter
1

of the cladding, and A and 6 are as The horizontal in-plane deflection

indicated in Fig 8. of a nailed shear wall assembly consists
130

of the s u m m a t i o n of c o n t r i b u t i o n s from a Nail slip deflection

number of factors, notably bending,
s h e a r , b a s e f i x i t y and nail d e f o r m a t i o n s , The deflection of the wall
such t h a t the total d e f l e c t i o n is g i v e n a s s e m b l y d u e to nail s l i p d e f o r m a t i o n m a y
a p p r o x i m a t e l y by be found from the approximate formula
g i v e n in N Z S 3 6 0 3 : 1 9 8 1 , ie
= A_ -i- A + A + A (5)
B S BF NS
4 H e
Usually the largest contribution (10)
NS
comes from nail slip. E x p r e s s i o n for
these four components of d e f l e c t i o n are where e ^ = n a i l s l i p (m)
given below. h = longer dimension of individual
sheet (m)

Bending deflection A l t e r n a t i v e l y , for a w a l l N p a n e l s

high, and any number of p a n e l s l o n g ,
The horizontal deflection d u e to
bending deformation of a panel sheathed A
n = 2 N e ( 1 + 0 0
(11)
w a l l w h i c h is assumed to h a v e o n e c h o r d n

at e a c h end is g i v e n by where a = the aspect ratio of the

individual panels, ie t h e i r h e i g h t / w i d t h
2V H r a t i o as fixed on the w a l l .
A_ = (6)
3 E A B 2

7. DETAILING
c

where The analysis and d e s i g n of shear

walls will not assure satisfactory
V = racking load at top of w a l l performance unless the c o n n e c t i o n s for
(kN) transmitting the forces are properly
H = h e i g h t of w a l l a s s e m b l y (m) d e s i g n e d and d e t a i l e d .
E = M o d u l u s of e l a s t i c i t y of c h o r d
kN/m 2
There are so many variations
A_ - area of c h o r d (m ) possible in details for timber shear
l e n g t h o f w a l l a s s e m b l y (m) w a l l s t h a t it is not p o s s i b l e to d e p i c t
them a l l .
Shear deflection
A selection of common details is
The horizontal deflection of a i n c l u d e d in A p p e n d i x B .
panel sheathed wall from shear
d e f o r m a t i o n is g i v e n by 8, CONCLUSIONS

In the foregoing text an a t t e m p t

A - V H

(7)
s " GBt has been made to h i g h l i g h t t h o s e a s p e c t s
of the design of timber s h e a t h e d w a l l s
where t = t h i c k n e s s of the s h e a t h i n g (m) that ensure good performance under
G s h e a r m o d u l u s of the s h e a t h i n g e a r t h q u a k e and wind loading. C e n t r a l to
kN/m Z t h e v m e t h o d is to p r o p o r t i o n the m e m b e r s ,
n a i l i n g and h o l d i n g d o w n d e v i c e s , so that
Base fixing deflection the d u c t i l i t y of the latter two steel
components is utilized in strong
The horizontal deflection of a earthquake loading, without permitted
panel sheathed wall from d e f o r m a t i o n of excessive deformations at s e r v i c e a b i l i t y
base fixings is found from static load l e v e l s .
e q u i l i b r i u m to be
To b r i n g the c o m m i t t e e ' s work to
V (|) 2
(8) fruition, more work will be d o n e in the
BF immediate future to c o m b i n e the r e s u l t s
u *d
of the s e v e r a l p a r a l l e l s t u d i e s into one
V H practical design method.
where k = ^-ii and
u w 6u w 6A

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

If l t the wall will rotate

k -
= n.,
k. The preparation of this p a p e r was
about the ceHtre of the bottom plate. If partly funded by the New Zealand Timber
k ^ k, the wall will translate Design Society.
vertically as well as rotating so that
REFERENCES
6 k (9)
u u 6
d k
d
Brickell Moss and Partners, Wellington.
Unpublished report on lateral tests on
where particle board sheathed w a l l s , 1978.

6 a upward deflection of base Collins, M J. "Design data for nail

u
c o n n e c t i o n in t e n s i o n (m) j o i n t s in s h e a r "
6 = downward deflection of base
c o n n e c t i o n in c o m p r e s s i o n (m) Dean, J A, M o s s , P J and S t e w a r t , W . "A
d e s i g n p r o c e d u r e for r e c t a n g u l a r o p e n i n g s
in shear walls and diaphragms", Proc
 131

Pacific Timber Engineering Conference, W i l l i a m , R L. " S e i s m i c d e s i g n of timber

A u c k l a n d , V o l II, 5 1 3 - 5 1 8 , 1 9 8 4 . s t r u c t u r e s - study g r o u p r e p o r t " , Bull NZ
Nat S o c i e t y for Earthquake E n g , V o l 19
Dean, J A, Stewart, W and C a r r , A J. No 1, M a r c h 1 9 8 6 .
" S e i s m i c d e s i g n loads for s h e a t h e d timber
shear walls", Bull NZ Nat S o c i e t y for
E a r t h q u a k e E n g , Vol 1 9 , No 1, M a r c h 1 9 8 6 .
APPENDIX A - MATERIAL PROPERTIES
D o w r i c k , D J. "Study d e f i n i n g h y s t e r e s i s
l o o p s for timber s t r u c t u r e s " , u n p u b l i s h e d Material properties for p l y w o o d ,
report to the Building Research p a r t i c l e board and h a r d b o a r d are included
A s s o c i a t i o n of New Zealand, 1 9 8 5 . to assist the designer. A brief
d e s c r i p t i o n of each m a t e r i a l is included
D o w r i c k D J. " H y s t e r e s i s loops for timber and the d e s i g n e r should refer to W e b s t e r
structures", Bull NZ Nat Society for (undated) for a d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n of
E a r t h q u a k e E n g , Vol 1 9 , No 2 , J u n e 1 9 8 6 . the m a n u f a c t u r e and composition of the
v a r i o u s sheet m a t e r i a l s a v a i l a b l e .
M e d e a r i s , K G. "An i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the
structural damping characteristics of Sheet materials currently
composite wood structures s u b j e c t e d to available differ significantly in
cyclic loading", PhD thesis, Stanford c o m p o s i t i o n and p r o p e r t i e s .
University, 1962.
T h e d e s i g n e r should a l s o be aware
Medearis, K G. "Static and dynamic that the plywood codes are prescriptive
p r o p e r t i e s of shear s t r u c t u r e s " , Proc Int in format while the p a r t i c l e board code
Symp Effects of Repeated Loading on is p e r f o r m a n c e o r i e n t a t e d .
Materials and Structures, RILEM
I n s t i t u t e Ing, M e x i c o , V I , 1 9 6 6 . Plywood

M o s s , P J, C a r r , A J and B u c h a n a n , A H . Plywood, which is the most

"Seismic design loads for low rise commonly used sheet material, is a
buildings", Preprint, IPENZ Conference c o m p o s i t e board m a d e by b o n d i n g thin wood
Auckland, 1986. veneers with adhesives with alternate
l a y e r s laid at 90 d e g r e e s to each other
to compensate for the different
NZS 3603:1981. "Code of P r a c t i c e for p r o p e r t i e s of timber along and a c r o s s the
Timber Design", S t a n d a r d s A s s o c i a t i o n of grain. F u r t h e r , as the g r a d e of the wood
New Zealand. v e n e e r s vary according to the g r a d e of
timber from which the v e n e e r s are p e e l e d ,
NZS 3615:1981. "Specification for p l y w o o d is manufactured in a range of
strength properties and design methods g r a d e s ranging from A G r a d e for d e f e c t
for construction plywood", Standards free m a t e r i a l to G r a d e D for m o r e h e a v i l y
A s s o c i a t i o n of New Z e a l a n d . defective laminates

Smith, P C, Dowrick, D J and D e a n J A . Construction plywood is specified

"Horizontal timber diaphragms for wind in NZS 3 6 1 5 : 1 9 8 1 and i d e n t i f i e d a c c o r d i n g
and e a r t h q u a k e resistance", Bull NZ Nat to the g r a d e of the o u t e r v e n e e r .
S o c i e t y for E a r t h q u a k e E n g , V o l 1 9 , No 2 ,
June 1986. Grade D-D plywood is normally
a d e q u a t e for structural a p p l i c a t i o n and
S t e w a r t , W G, D e a n , J A and C a r r , A J. is m a n u f a c t u r e d in 2400 x 1200 s h e e t s in
"The seismic performance of plywood 7.5 mm, 9 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm and 21 mm
s h e a t h e d s h e a r w a l l s " , Proc P a c i f i c T i m b e r thicknesses. Properties for D-D G r a d e
Engineering Conference, Auckland, Vol II, p l y w o o d are included in T a b l e A l and the
486-495, 1984. designer is referred to NZS 3615 for
p r o p e r t i e s of o t h e r g r a d e s of p l y w o o d .
Thurston, S J , "In-plane cyclic s h e a r
tests on ply-sheathed bracing walls", Particle Board
N e w Zealand Ministry of Works and
Development, Central Laboratories, Report Particle board is primarily
No 5 - 8 4 / 2 , 1 9 8 4 . manufactured from small thin softwood
chips bonded together under heat and
Thurston, S J and Flack, P F. "Cyclic pressure using a synthetic resin
load performances of timber sheathed adhesive.
bracing walls", Ministry of W o r k s and
Development, Central Laboratories, Report Generally boards incorporating
No 5 - 8 0 / 1 0 , 1 9 8 0 . long slender chips or shavings have
improved structural properties and
Thurston, S J and Hutchison, D J. dimensional stability while boards
"Cyclic load testing of timber - s h e a t h e d manufactured using finer wood chip
wall panels", Proc Pacific Timber materials provide improved s u r f a c e s for
E n g i n e e r i n g C o n f e r e n c e , A u c k l a n d , Vol I I , decoration.
486-495, 1984.
S i n g l e layer and m u l t i l a y e r p a n e l s
W a l k e r , G R. "The a n a l y s i s and d e s i g n of and boards with varying density are
sheet clad timber framed walls manufactured:
incorporating vertical tie-down racking
l o a d s " (unpublished p a p e r ) . High d e n s i t y 660-780 kg/m^
Medium d e n s i t y 560-660 kg/m 3

Low density 400-480 kg/m

132

Table A1 BASIC WORKING STRENGTH OF SHEET MATERIALS*

Particle Board
Plywood Oil tempered
C-D grade hardboard
DIN 1052 Finabond Structex
(NZFP) (Fletcher)
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)

Bending 11.0 4.30 3.0 7.0 11.0

Tension 8.6 2.00 2.0 2.5 11.0

Compression 8.4 2.35 2.0 3.6 7.5

Bearing on 4.1 2.00 2.0 - -

face

Railing shear 0.6 0.35 0.5 -

Panel shear 1.8 1.55 0.5 2.4 5.0

Modulus of
Elasticity 1.05 x 1 0 4
1.1 x 1 0 3
2 x 10 3
3.9 x 1 0 3
3.8 x 1 0 3

Shear Modulus 650 550 400 - -

Note: Hie values given are approximate averages for materials from different
sources, available in New Zealand. (Increase by 2.5 for short term loads)

S t r u c t u r a l g r a d e p a r t i c l e board is Hardboards, which are the only

d e f i n e d as high density material bonded fibre b o a r d s c o n s i d e r e d in the p a p e r , are
w i t h m e l a m i n e Urea f o r m a l d e h y d e or tannin c o m p r e s s e d at h i g h t e m p e r a t u r e s .
formaldehyde resin. Medium and low
density boards are unable to w i t h s t a n d Tempered hardboard is normally
long term s t r e s s e s . treated w i t h an oil on drying to increase
its s t r e n g t h and r e s i s t a n c e to m o i s t u r e
Flooring grade is generally and a b r a s i o n .
similar to structural grade particle
board b u t has a slightly higher density
with the p r o p e r t i e s of the b o a r d a l t e r e d Fibre boards manufactured in N e w
to g i v e a b e t t e r r e s i s t a n c e to impact and Zealand a r e not c o v e r e d by a New Zealand
abrasion. Standard but generally comply with
BS 1 1 4 2 .
Allowable stresses for various
g r a d e s of p a r t i c l e b o a r d are r e c o r d e d in The ultimate s t r e n g t h s of v a r i o u s
DIN 1052, but these appear to be s h e e t p r o d u c t s a r e a l s o included in T a b l e
c o n s e r v a t i v e c o m p a r e d w i t h the p r o p e r t i e s A2. This data has generally been
s u g g e s t e d by New Zealand m a n u f a c t u r e r s of e x t r a c t e d from trade l i t e r a t u r e and test
structural particle board. results published by the m a n u f a c t u r e r s
and o n l y a v e r a g e v a l u e s are g i v e n .
Further research on the s t r e n g t h
p r o p e r t i e s of structural particle board
is c l e a r l y n e c e s s a r y .

Fibreboards

Fibreboards are sheet materials

m a n u f a c t u r e d from wood f i b r e s w h e r e the
basic strength is derived from the
f e l t i n g together and i n h e r e n t a d h e s i o n of
the i n d i v i d u a l f i b r e s .
 133

Table A2 ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF SHEET MATERIALS"

Tensile Panel Shear Modulus of Modulus of

Strength Strength Rupture Elasticity
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
Material

Long Cross Long Cross Long Cross Long Cross

Oil Temp Hardboard

4.75 mm 41 33 4.2 4.2 58 46 7700 5200

6.00 mm 36 27 4.0 4,0 49 38 6600 5200

Standard Hardboard

3.00 mm 39 27 3.2 3-2 61 45 7100 5100

4.75 mm 33 25 3.2 3.2 51 39 6200 4700
6.00 mm 32 25 3.1 3.1 44 36 6100 5100

MD Fibreboard

Interior 38 3000
Flooring 45 4200

Particle Board

Interior 25 3400
Structural 10 25 3800
Flooring 28 4000

Construction 69 10500
Plywood

Padiata Pine 62 10700

(clear)

*
The values given are approximate averages for materials from different sources,
available in New Zealand.
134

APPENDIX B: CONNECTION DETAILS

Axial load t Axial toad

connection Shear, connection
connection

Toothed plate Bolted or nailed

connection or connection to panel-
similar steel plate anchored
to substructure
SHEAR CONNECTIONS

to top plate
AXIAL LOAD CONNECTIONS - NO COLUMN BOUNDARY MEMBER

Timber column

Steel column Return w a l l

AXIAL CONNECTIONS -
COLUMN BOUNDARY MEMBER OR RETURN WALL