Approximate analytical solutions for diagonal reinforced timber-framed walls with fibre-plaster coating material

This paper provides approximate analytical solutions for diagonally reinforced timber-framed panel walls usually used as main bearing capacity elements in the construction of prefabricated timber structures. These walls can be mathematically treated as composite elements made of a timber frame and fibre-plaster boards as a coating material. As boards are the weakest part of the system they are reinforced with steel diagonals. The proposed approximate analytical models with the fictitious thickness and width of fibre-plaster boards enable simultaneously to consider the influence of inserted steel diagonals, flexibility of mechanical fasteners between the boards and the timber frame and any appearing cracks in the tensile area of the fibre-plaster boards. The obtained numerical results show good agreement with the measured experimental results.