Cyclic performance of perforated wood shear walls with oversize OSB panels

This paper reports the test results from a study investigating the influence of openings on the lateral resistance of wood-based shear walls built with both standard and oversize oriented strand board panels under monotonic and cyclic loading conditions. Test results showed that the application of nonstandard oversize panels significantly improved the performance of the perforated shear walls compared with standard 1.2×2.4 m panels. Door and window openings caused a significant decrease in the strength and stiffness of the walls and precipitated a change in failure mode, especially for walls with oversize panels. Although nail failure modes were commonly observed in walls without openings, a combination of nail and panel failures were observed in shear walls with openings. A newly proposed cyclic test protocol was used that consisted of fewer but more severe displacement excursions, compared with many other test protocols. This was believed to better reflect typical earthquake excitation and avoid low cycle nail fatigue failures, which were observed previously with long sequence cyclic test protocols.