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Virginia Tech

Monotonic and Cyclic Performance of Light-Frame Shear Walls with Various Sheathing Materials

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The racking performance of light-frame shear walls subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading is the focus of this thesis. The sheathing materials investigated are oriented strandboard (OSB), hardboard, fiberboard, and gypsum wallboard. The objectives of this study were to (1) obtain and compare performance characteristics of each sheathing material; (2) compare the effects of monotonic loading versus the cyclic loading response; (3) investigate the contribution of gypsum in walls with dissimilar sheathing materials on opposite sides of the wall; and (4) study the effects of using overturning anchors. The monotonic tests, which incorporated the use of hold-downs, were performed according to ASTM E564. Half of the cyclic tests were performed with hold-downs, and half were performed without hold-downs. The cyclic tests were performed according to the recently adopted cyclic testing procedure ASTM E2126. A total of forty-five walls were tested with various configurations. The size of the walls was 1.2 x 2.4m (4 x 8ft). Two tests were performed with each sheathing material subjected to each type of loading: monotonic, cyclic with hold-downs, and cyclic without hold-downs. Two tests were then performed with OSB, hardboard, or fiberboard on one side of the wall and gypsum on the other side of the wall to study the effects of using dissimilar sheathing materials on the shear walls. The OSB and hardboard exhibited similar performance, and were the strongest of the four sheathing materials. Fiberboard performed better than gypsum, but worse than OSB and hardboard. In general, the performance indicators decreased when the walls were subjected to cyclic loading. The contribution of gypsum to walls with hold-downs was significant, but was not linearly additive. The use of hold-downs had a large effect on the performance of the walls. All shear wall performance indicators decreased when hold-downs were not included, with an average reduction of 66% in the peak load.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Civil Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2003

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Toothman, Adam James
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Easterling, William Samuel
  • Dolan, James Daniel
Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Loferski, Joseph R.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-01212003-155154
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31016

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Toothman, Adam James. Monotonic and Cyclic Performance of Light-Frame Shear Walls with Various Sheathing Materials. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31016