Structural Damage Evaluation of Multistory Timber–Steel Hybrid Structures through Shake Table Tests

Abstract

Timber-based hybrid structures provide a prospective solution for utilizing environmentally friendly timber material in the construction of midrise or high-rise structures. This study mainly focuses on structural damage evaluation for a type of timber–steel hybrid structure that incorporates prefabricated light wood-frame shear walls into steel moment-resisting frames (SMRFs). The structural damage of such a hybrid structure was evaluated through shake table tests on a 4-story large-scale timber–steel hybrid structure. Four ground motion records (i.e., Wenchuan earthquake, Canterbury earthquake, El-Centro earthquake, and Kobe earthquake) were chosen for the tests, with the consideration of three different probability levels (i.e., minor, moderate, and major earthquakes) for each record. During the shake table tests, the hybrid structure performed quite well with visual damage only to wood shear walls. No visual damage in SMRFs and the frame-to-wall connections was observed. The correlation of visual damage to seismic intensity, modal-based damage index, and interstory drift is discussed. The reported work provides a basis of knowledge for performance-based seismic design (PBSD) for such timber-based hybrid structures.