Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Light-Frame Wood Buildings

1. Summary This paper discusses recent developments in the direct displacement-based seismic design for light-frame wood buildings. The underlying design philosophy and methodology of direct displacement-based seismic design are first presented. In this design approach, the wood structure is modeled as an equivalent single-degree-of-freedom system with equivalent secant lateral stiffness and equivalent viscous damping ratio representative of the global behavior of the structure at the design displacement. To evaluate these properties, specialized numerical models to predict the seismic response of wood shear walls and complete three-dimensional light-frame wood buildings are discussed. Finally, an example of the direct displacement-based design of a light-frame wood building is presented.