College - Author 1
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Department - Author 1
Architectural Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Architectural Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Department - Author 2
Architectural Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Architectural Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Architecture and Environmental Design
Department - Author 3
Architectural Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Architectural Engineering
Date
9-2024
Primary Advisor
Michael Deigert, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Architectural Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
The researchers of this project are three undergraduate Architectural Engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Plywood shear walls are common structural elements in timber structures that resist lateral forces. Since their introduction to the industry in the 1950s, their shear capacities have remained essentially unchanged amongst the innovations of other wooden lateral systems. Prior to this project, Cal Poly undergraduate researchers have taken on the challenge of modernizing the shear wall. The “MeGa Wall” project was born: a system that implements metal gauge strapping which enhances a conventional wall by reducing nail connection failures. Full-scale experimental testing of these walls in Cal Poly’s high bay facility revealed the MeGa Walls nearly doubled the shear capacity but had sudden, brittle failure modes that needed to be avoided.
This project aims to continue the research by developing a strapping system that achieves two goals: increasing the shear capacity and maintaining the ductile behavior of a conventional plywood shear wall. The following report will encompass the means and methods used to design, construct, test, and analyze four unique shear walls. The first two MeGa Walls utilize a customized metal strap that spans across the wall’s adjacent panel edges, creating a fuse that causes the strap to yield. The final two walls provide supplemental observations and results that further our understanding of the first two MeGa Wall experiments. Results from the study indicate that the MeGa Walls designed with the fuse strap achieve our research goals of increasing capacity and maintaining ductility. If implemented in the industry the MeGa Wall can benefit architects with shortened wall lengths and provide alternatives to double-sided shear wall construction practices.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/arcesp/213