Experimental behaviour of diaphragms in post-tensioned timber frame buildings

Floor diaphragms have an important role in the seismic behaviour of structures, as inertia forces are generated by their masses and then transferred to the lateral load resisting system. Diaphragms also link all other structural elements together and provide general stability to the structure. As with most other structural components, there is concern about damage to floor diaphragms because of displacement incompatibilities. This paper describes two different experiments on engineered timber floors connected to post-tensioned timber frames subjected to horizontal loading. First a full scale two-bay post-tensioned frame was loaded with lateral loads through a stressed-skin floor diaphragm. Different connection configurations between the floor units on either side of the central column were tested. Secondly a three dimensional, three storey post-tensioned frame building was tested on a shaking table. The diaphragm consisted of solid timber panels connected to the beams with inclined fully threaded screws. For all tested connections, the diaphragm behaviour was fully maintained throughout the testing and no damage was observed. The test results showed that careful detailing of the floor panel connections near the beam-column-joint and the flexibility of timber elements can avoid floor damage and still guarantee diaphragm action at high level of drifts in post-tensioned timber frame buildings.