Experimental Seismic Performance Evaluation of a Full-Scale Woodframe Building

This paper discusses the on-going shake table testing program on a full-scale two-story woodframe townhouse building conducted within the NSF/NEES-funded NEESWood Project. The test building represents the worlds largest woodframe structure tested on a shake table. The size and weight of the test structure required the simultaneous use of the two tri-axial shake tables in the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory at the University at Buffalo. The testing program is focusing on the various construction elements that may have significant influence on the seismic response of woodframe buildings and that should be considered in performance-based seismic design. This paper focuses on the effects of gypsum wallboard finishes. The results obtained so far indicate that the influence of gypsum wallboard finishes applied to the interior surfaces of structural (load bearing) walls substantially improved the seismic response of the test building. On the other hand, the same gypsum wallboard wall finishes applied to interior partition walls had no beneficial effect on the seismic response of the test building because of the lack of structural connections between those partition walls and adjacent floor and roof diaphragms.