Influence of the Connection Modelling on the Seismic Behaviour of Crosslam Timber Buildings

The paper investigates the influence of modelling different types of connections in multi-storey cross-laminated timber buildings. The importance of modelling the connection flexibility in the prediction of the natural vibration periods and the base shear force of a crosslam building is demonstrated using linear-dynamic analysis. The building’s global ductility and peak ground acceleration were compared using non-linear static and dynamic analyses, demonstrating that the former may lead to non-conservative result. The effect of gravity loads does not seem to be crucial in the analyses, whereas including friction in the model leads to a lower seismic response of the structure. This beneficial influence may however be reduced by the vertical component of the seismic acceleration, not considered in this study.