Numerical model for hybrid simulation of a three-story wood-frame building

Hybrid simulation is gaining acceptance in earthquake engineering and research community as a cost effective means to test the seismic performance of subassemblies in a structural system or building. This paper presents a numerical model and simulation framework developed for hybrid testing of a three-story wood-frame building with weakfirst story. In this hybrid simulation, the upper stories (i.e. stories 2 and 3) are physical substructures while the effects of different retrofits are applied to the first story and modelled numerically. The retrofits considered in this hybrid simulation includes inverted moment frame (IMF), distributed knee-brace (DKB), steel moment frame (SMF) and shape memory alloy (SMA). Hybrid simulations of CLT, SMF and DKB retrofits were completed. The IMF retrofit is currently being tested while the SMA retrofit is scheduled to be conducted in September and October. The on-going hybrid test demonstrates that slow hybrid simulation is a viable experimental method to evaluate the effectiveness of different retrofits for soft-story wood-frame buildings.