Search

Wood-frame buildings are very common in regions that are exposed to earthquakes. Most of residential buildings are constructed using this technology; therefore, the seismic resistance of them is really essential in order to prevent human losses and structural damage. The aim of the present article is to show the results of the detailed numerical FEM analysis focused on the seismic behaviour of the wood-frame house with different in-wall insulation materials. The results of the study clearly indicate that using polyurethane (PU) foam instead of mineral wool leads to the increase in the rigidity of the structure and, therefore, to the substantial reduction in the structural response under different seismic excitations. The results also show that, generally speaking, the level of reduction in the displacement response increases with the increase in the magnitude of the earthquake, which even furthermore benefits the application of PU foam as an insulation material. It has also been concluded that the method of using PU foam can be successfully applied not only in the newly constructed wood-frame houses but also in existing ones since replacing the mineral wool with PU foam is relatively easy and not so much expensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to present the results of a numerical modal analysis of two actual structures of timber frame buildings and the different behaviour due to the used insulation material. One model of the timber structure was filled with mineral wool, while the other with polyurethane foam. During the modal analysis, eigenvalues for both models have been determined. The results of the analysis clearly show the increase of stiffness and damping properties of skeletal constructions achieved by the use of polyurethane foam as the skeleton filling. The numerical model was based on prior experimental test on real scale single frame elements, therefore the result can be assumed to be adequate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to show the numeric representation of experimental studies concerning the behaviour of exterior wall models of a timber-frame house under harmonic loading. A single wall model according to traditional technology of timberframe house walls (filling with mineral wool) was tested. The analysis was conducted for the following frequencies: 0.5 Hz, 1.0 Hz, 2.0 Hz and 5.0 Hz for various values of the specified displacement. A number of hysteresis loops were obtained for each of the tests. Based on them, the damping ratio as well as stiffness were calculated. The skeleton model filled with mineral wool (traditional technology) experienced serious damage under larger displacements. The results of the study have been used to propose a numerical model of wall filled with mineral wool. The proposed numerical model is consistent with the results for the values obtained during the experimental study, which proves the correctness of the adopted solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]